Singaporean fined record $600,000 for unauthorised dormitory accomodation
Acting on the MOM inspections, that took place in December 2017 and March 2018, URA’s searches exposed that 15 international workers were living in 1012B Upper Serangoon Roadway. Another 16 and 17 foreign workers were discovered to be living in 32H Lorong 22 Geylang and 32J Lorong 22 Geylang, respectively.
URA regulations state that exclusive residential properties can only house as much as 6 unconnected persons.
“Unauthorised residence hall accommodation not just negatively affects the residential character of the neighbourhood, but also negatively impacts the occupants, who may be from even more susceptible groups that are vulnerable to exploitation,” states Martin Tan, director, Development Control Group, URA.
Further examinations unearthed the fact that Tan had been providing dorm lodging at those premises for approximately 2 years, and that he had actually converted 8 other private residential properties to unauthorised dormitory rental in between 2016 to 2018. The quantity of tenants in each unit ranged from 7 to 23.
He adds: “URA will definitely continue to use strong enforcement actions facing perpetrators, including property owners, lessees, representatives and anybody discovered to have actually flouted URA’s regulations on the leasing or subletting of personal residential properties”.
According to a URA press release on June 14, a 72-year-old Singaporean male, Tan Hock Keng, was convicted of three counts of turning personal residential properties to illegal dorm room lodging. On May 30, he was penalized a record $600,000, with the maximum damages of $200,000 imposed for each cost.
URA claims that Tan confessed that he understood the occupancy policies but chose to proceed with the unauthorised transformation of the properties anyway.
Enforcement officers from the Ministry of Manpower had actually inspected exclusive houses connected to Tan and found that the range of occupants residing there had actually drastically gone beyond URA’s occupancy cap policies.
