Singapore Land Authority announces digital conveyancing portal to transform conveyancing process by 2026

27 February 2023

On 26 January 2023, the Singapore Land Authority (“SLA”) issued a press release about streamlining the property conveyancing process with the Digital Conveyancing Portal (“DCP”). The online portal will enable secured e-payment and digitised documents and signatories for conveyancing process for all types of properties in Singapore by 2026.

Digitalising a paper-based conveyancing process

Currently, law firms, financial institutions, real estate companies and developers, as well as government agencies involved in the conveyancing process work individually on a paper-based manual process to complete a property sale/purchase.

The DCP will streamline the current paper-based conveyancing process and transform it into a fully integrated, efficient, transparent and paperless digital conveyancing process for all property transactions in Singapore. This will include facilitating e-payments and submitting digitised documents, giving users a paperless and more efficient conveyancing experience. There will be easier and more convenient access to information relating to property transactions as users will be able to retrieve details and check for updates via the DCP.

The DCP aims to bring efficiencies to all stakeholders involved in the conveyancing process including lawyers, financial institutions, real estate agents, developers and property buyers and sellers.

Expected to be fully developed and implemented in 2026, the DCP will be made available to both public and private housing, as well as commercial and industrial properties.

Progressive development and implementation of the DCP over three phases

The DCP will be developed over three phases:

• The first phase will comprise the Option-to-Purchase (OTP) stage for developer sale, resale and sub-sale transactions, and this phase is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2024.
• The second phase will cover the pre-completion and completion stages for developer sale transactions.
• The third phase will cover the pre-completion and completion stages for resale and sub-sale transactions.

SLA is also working with the Housing and Development Board (“HDB”) to integrate the DCP workstreams to digitalise the conveyancing process, including facilitating e-payments and digitising legal documents for HDB property transactions, where feasible.

Reference materials

The press release is available on the SLA website www.sla.gov.sg.