How the GLS programme works in Singapore, what a tender award tells you about a new launch, and why leasehold tenure follows from it.
The programme
The Government Land Sale programme is how the Singapore government releases state land for private development. Sites are put out for public tender, developers bid, and the parcel is awarded, usually to the highest bidder subject to the authorities being satisfied with the offer.
The programme runs in half-yearly cycles with a Confirmed List, where sites are released on schedule, and a Reserve List, where a site is triggered only when a developer commits to a minimum bid.
What a GLS award tells a buyer
The award record is public and fixes several things at once: the site area, the permitted gross floor area and plot ratio, the lease term, the estimated unit yield and the identity of the developer.
It does not fix the unit mix, the facilities, the specification or the price. Those are developer decisions taken after the award and released ahead of launch.
Why GLS sites are leasehold
Residential GLS parcels are typically sold on a 99-year lease, with the lease running from the award. That is why almost all new launches in the Outside Central Region are 99-year leasehold rather than freehold.
Plot ratio and what it produces
Plot ratio is the multiplier between site area and permitted gross floor area. A lower plot ratio on a given site produces less built floor area, which generally translates into lower building heights, more space between blocks and more of the ground given over to landscape.
It is one of the few things about a development that is fixed at tender and cannot change afterwards, which makes it a reliable indicator of the eventual character of the project.
The Dairy Farm Walk site
The Dairy Farm Walk parcel was launched for public tender in November 2025 and awarded on 22 January 2026. It measures 316,937 sq ft with a plot ratio of 1.4, giving a permitted gross floor area of 443,709 sq ft, on a 99-year lease with an estimated yield of approximately 480 homes.
The development record for Impressions at Dairy Farm is on the project details page.