News Releases

20 July 2010

Limited and non-exclusive use of commercial spaces for religious activities

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) today issued a set of guidelines on the limited and non-exclusive use of commercial spaces for religious activities.

The guidelines will provide greater clarity to both property owners and religious organisations on the extent of allowable use of commercial spaces for religious activities.

The guidelines have been drawn up to afford some flexibility for the limited use of commercial premises by religious organisations while ensuring that the predominant use and character of commercial developments are not eroded, and that such places remain as secular spaces that can be enjoyed by people from all segments of society.

Guidelines on the Non-Exclusive Use of Commercial Premises for Religious Activities

Sites zoned for "Commercial" use in URA’s Master Plan are intended for commercial activities and serve as secular spaces for people from all segments of our society to interact and mingle. Locations that are specially designated for worship/religious use by religious groups are zoned “Place of Worship”. Religious activities should therefore be conducted at sites zoned “Place of Worship”.

Though religious activities are generally not allowed in commercial buildings, URA is prepared to exercise some flexibility and allow commercial premises to be used in a limited, non-exclusive way by religious groups that need venues for large gatherings, as long as it does not cause disturbances such as noise, traffic or parking problems. Examples of spaces in commercial and hotel developments include auditoriums, function halls, convention centres and cinemas.

To ensure that the character and secular nature of commercial premises are not eroded or displaced by religious activities, the following guidelines should be observed by religious organisations and property owners:

1. Only existing approved auditoriums, function halls, convention halls and cinemas located within commercial and hotel developments can be considered for non-exclusive and limited religious use, so long as such uses are not likely to cause disamenities and traffic problems;
2. The maximum space within a commercial development that can be considered for non-exclusive and limited religious use shall not exceed a total Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 20,000 sqm or 20 per cent of total GFA of the development, whichever is lower. Each religious organisation is limited to use up to 10,000 sqm in any commercial space at any one time. This is to ensure that a single religious organisation does not dominate a particular commercial development by taking up a very large amount of space. The exact quantum of these caps have been determined with reference to existing usage patterns, but taking into consideration the need to ensure that the predominant use of these premises remain “Commercial”, and that different religious organisation have the opportunity to access these large venues for their activities;
3. The premises cannot be owned by or exclusively leased to religious organisations. The premises should be available to be rented out for other commercial events such as seminars, conferences and performances, etc;
4. The use of the commercial space for religious activities shall not exceed two days a week including Saturday and Sunday;
5. There shall be no display of signages, advertisements or posters of the religious use at the premises or on the exterior of the building. The premises should not be furnished to resemble a worship hall and there shall be no display of religious symbols, icons or any religious paraphernalia at or within the venue when it is not in use by the religious organisation; and
6. The building owner and the religious organisation shall take appropriate measures to ensure that the activities do not cause disturbances to the public.

In addition, owners of convention centres must ensure that the religious use does not compromise the staging of events during weekends.

Information to be submitted to URA

Religious organisations that wish to use commercial premises for religious activities will have to provide information regarding the nature and frequency of use, size of the premises, etc to URA for consideration. If the use is allowed, the property owner and the religious organisation will need to submit a joint Letter of Undertaking to abide by the conditions.

For enquiries regarding religious use in commercial developments, religious organisations and building owners can call URA’s Development Control Enquiry Line at Tel: 6223 4811.

Jointly issued by Urban Redevelopment Authority and Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports