In Singapore, a Town Council (TC) is an administrative body led by one or more elected Members of Parliament (MPs) together with appointed residents. It is responsible for managing the common property and overseeing the day-to-day maintenance of public housing estates built by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) within a designated town. Established under the Town Councils Act 1988, town councils focus mainly on estate management and function as a limited form of local governance.
Unlike in many countries, there are no separate local elections for town councils; their composition is determined by the results of parliamentary general elections. Their leadership and structure are therefore tied to national political boundaries and depend entirely on which MPs are elected to represent their constituencies. Town councils have no independent legislative or executive powers apart from the national government and may be altered when electoral boundaries are revised, although they are allowed to enact by-laws. To streamline administration, TCs usually cover one or more constituencies for the management of estates and services. As of the 2025 Singaporean general election, 19 town councils were formed across Singapore, with 17 under the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and 2 under the opposition Workers' Party (WP).
Town councils have received a range of responses. Supporters state that they link estate management to elected representatives, which can make services more responsive and locally focused. Others note that this arrangement ties municipal services to political representation, which may create variations across constituencies and limits direct resident participation since there are no separate local elections. Some have suggested alternative models such as a more depoliticised system of estate governance or holding local elections independently of national ones.
Functions and powers Town councils are a limited form of local government that primarily manage and maintain the common property of public housing estates. Their responsibilities typically include miscellaneous upkeep such as the cleaning of common areas, maintaining lifts, exterior wall painting and carrying out landscaping works such as grass cutting. Unlike most forms of local government, town councils are not directly elected but are instead led by Members of Parliament (MPs) chosen through national general elections. Their role is therefore regarded as an extension of MPs' constituency responsibilities rather than a separate political office.
In addition to their core functions, town councils may be tasked with managing or maintaining other property on an ad-hoc basis at the request of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) or the government. With the approval of the Minister for National Development, they may also carry out the work of any public authority or association if both parties agree. The Town Councils Act also grants them powers to establish new communal facilities, subject to HDB approval where required. They may maintain property that is not designated as common property if authorised by the Minister for National Development and are empowered to set service and conservancy charges (S&CC) to fund the upkeep of the town. Town councils do not cover private housing estates such as condominiums, landed properties or terraced houses, which are managed separately by management corporations or other private arrangements under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act 2004.
List of town councils
As of 2025, there are 19 town councils in Singapore administered by two political parties, the People's Action Party (PAP) with 17 and the Workers' Party (WP) with the remaining 2, those being AHTC and SKTC.
Aljunied–Hougang Town Council (AHTC) Ang Mo Kio Town Council (AMKTC) Bishan–Toa Payoh Town Council (BTPTC) Chua Chu Kang Town Council (CCKTC) East Coast Town Council (ECTC) Holland–Bukit Panjang Town Council (HBPTC) Jalan Besar Town Council (JBTC) Jalan Kayu Town Council (JKTC) Jurong–Clementi–Bukit Batok Town Council (JCBBTC) Marine Parade–Braddell Heights Town Council (MPBHTC) Marsiling–Yew Tee Town Council (MYTTC) Nee Soon Town Council (NSTC) Pasir Ris–Changi Town Council (PRCTC) Punggol Town Council (PGTC) Sembawang Town Council (SBTC) Sengkang Town Council (SKTC) Tampines Town Council (TTC) Tanjong Pagar Town Council (TPTC) West Coast–Jurong West Town Council (WCJWTC)
History of local government in Singapore Municipal Commission (1887–1951)
Singapore's rapid development in the 19th century meant that there was an increasing demand for the management of municipal matters beyond the ad-hoc management of such matters by the British colonial government. In 1887, the Municipal Commission of Singapore was established that split the administration of the town area and the rural districts, and also had its own source of municipal funds that were separate from government revenue. The Commission initially comprised an appointed full-time salaried president, and five elected members. It supported numerous improvement projects over the next few decades such as establishing a fire brigade, enlarging reservoirs, and providing street lighting. In 1913, the commission was reorganised and elections were abolished, although they were reintroduced in 1949 to encourage greater civic participation. Three elections were held for the commission from 1949 to 1950 before it was renamed in 1951.
City Council (1951–1963)
In 1951, the Municipal Commission was renamed the City Council when Singapore officially attained city status in the British Commonwealth. The Municipal Building, from which the Commission operated, was also renamed City Hall. From 1951 to 1958, four full elections and one by-election were held for the City Council.
Absorption of City Council into Government By 1959, there was a widespread perception that the City Council was inefficient and corrupt. For example, it was reported by The Straits Times that an advertising agent had to bribe his way to get his licenses on time. The People's Action Party (PAP) campaigned on the promise that if they were to win the general election on 30 May that they would reorganise the "present unwieldy, inefficient, expensive and wasteful system of government". First on the list of priorities was the absorption of the parallel administrations of the City Council and Rural Board into the central government.
When the PAP won, then-Minister for National Development Ong Eng Guan signed an order taking over the functions of the City Council and centralising these municipal functions under the Government. The water, electricity and gas functions stayed with the City Council until 1963, when it was absorbed into the Public Utilities Board (PUB).
Pilot Town Council programmes (1986–1988) Although the PAP campaigned in the early years that local government functions were "inefficient" for a small city-state such as Singapore, the party changed its mind a few decades later. It decided in 1986 to decentralise some municipal functions because it wanted ostensibly to increase resident participation in estate management. As a result, three town councils were set up in Ang Mo Kio as a pilot programme to manage the estate.
Town Councils Bill and Act (1988) The three pilot town councils, Ang Mo Kio West, Ang Mo Kio East and Ang Mo Kio South, were deemed to be highly successful and led to the introduction of the Town Councils Bill in Parliament in May 1988. Goh Chok Tong, who would eventually become Prime Minister in 1990, argued in Parliament that town councils not only provided for greater resident participation, but also would act as "political stabilisers". He cited the fact that in other democracies, e.g. the United Kingdom, there were "inherent factors" that resulted in "greater political stability", such as "long-term allegiances of constituencies to a certain political party." But in Singapore, ... it is the PAP which provides the political stability. There is no other party at present which can effectively govern Singapore. But this political stability can be threatened by sudden temporary swings in national mood. If there are such swings, the PAP can be out of power. If that happens, political instability will result because no alternative leadership has emerged which can effectively govern Singapore. Goh also noted in the same speech in Parliament that voters were confident that after decades of uninterrupted PAP rule, that even if they elected opposition candidates to Parliament that they would still have a competent PAP government managing their constituencies, which would result in a "free-rider" problem: For example, some voters who want a PAP government also want to see some opposition MPs. They may vote for an opposition candidate and depend on the PAP to look after their constituency because they expect other constituencies to return PAP candidates in sufficient numbers to form the government. Chiam See Tong, then-MP for Potong Pasir and one of only two non-PAP MPs at that time, spoke at length rejecting the bill. Chiam argued that the role of an MP was to give direction to a nation, and not to manage municipal matters:A party is elected because of its policy. The people may want the party to represent them so that the nation can move in a particular direction. The PAP first came into power on a socialist platform. People of Singapore voted them in because they thought that was good for Singapore and so they went on a socialist principle, up to lately, of course. Some people may want to vote people like Margaret Thatcher, free enterprise, the capitalist line. You vote her in. So that is the purpose of voting Members of Parliament and a particular party. But you do not vote a Town Councillor to change the direction or have a national policy in regard whether to foreign policy or to national policies on education or defence, or how you should have a relationship with your neighbours. These are not the work of town councillors. These are the work of Members of Parliament. So there is a distinct different role.He also noted that most MPs did not stay in the same constituency, let alone the same housing estate, of their residents, and would therefore not add much value to the residents in such matters. He proposed that Town Councils should be made non-political, but was rebutted by Lee Hsien Loong that MPs should care for their constituents as much as they cared about lawmaking:If any MP stands in the next election and says, "Please elect me. I will pay no attention to municipal matters. You go and find some non-political Town Councillor on your own to manage that and you have it out with HDB should anything happen", I do not think he is going to be elected. I do not think the Member for Potong Pasir will put that in the SDP manifesto. Will he? Perhaps not.Ultimately, PAP's supermajority in Parliament allowed it to pass the bill into law without further consultation.
Formation Within 30 days after a general election, town councils will have to be formed. A town council comprises the MP(s) of one constituency, or two to three constituencies who collectively agree to become a town, and six to 30 appointed members. The town council is led by a chairperson who must be an elected MP, who can then appoint non-elected MPs to the town council as well. At least two-thirds of the appointed members must be residents living in the town to ensure good representation.
By-laws Under the Town Councils Act, a town council may make by-laws as part of its estate management role. As of 28 November 2019, there are 51 pieces of by-law legislation published in the Singapore Statutes. The by-laws generally cover three main areas: (1) the rules governing the use of common spaces and open areas in the estate; (2) service and conservancy charges (S&CC) charges to be paid to the Town Council; and (3) the penalties for not paying those charges.