Running a property agency in Singapore: licence, KEO, cover and fees

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Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

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In Singapore the firm is licensed and the individual is registered, and the two are not the same thing. A person who shows homes and negotiates prices is a real estate salesperson, registered through a firm. The firm itself, which the Estate Agents Act 2010 calls an estate agent and everyday speech calls a property agency, holds a licence from the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA). Without that licence there is no firm for a salesperson to be registered with.

This guide is about the firm. It follows the licence from the first application to renewal: who has to hold one, the one person the law requires every agency to appoint, the insurance that must be in place before the application is sent, what the licence costs for a firm of ten people and for a firm of five thousand, what the agency owes the regulator once it is trading, and what the regulator can do when things go wrong. It draws on the Act and its Licensing and Registration Regulations, and on CEA's own licensing and renewal pages, both of which CEA marked as updated on 1 October 2026. The timing matters: the 2026 renewal exercise opened that day, and it grants licences for three years.

Council for Estate Agencies: licensing and renewal pages updated 1 October 2026, and its regulatory and enforcement framework overview.

Who needs an estate agent licence

Section 3(1) of the Estate Agents Act 2010 defines an estate agent as a person who does estate agency work, whether or not the person carries on that or any other business. The word "person" here covers a business: a salesperson, in the same section, is an individual who does estate agency work in the course of employment or engagement by an estate agent, or as a director or limited liability partner of one. So the Act draws a line between the business that takes on clients and the individuals who work under it.

CEA's licensing page puts the rule in practical terms. Any entity that does estate agency work must apply for an estate agent licence, and the page says this holds whether the work is done through real estate salespersons or through a digital platform.

Not everything around a property deal is estate agency work. Section 3(3) of the Act leaves out work that relates solely to a survey, a valuation, or a disposition by auction or tender. Section 5 also lets the Minister and the Council grant exemptions. Whether a particular activity falls inside the definition depends on what is actually done and for whom, and the Act, not a summary, decides that.

Two conditions come before anything else. According to CEA, the entity must be registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), and the application is made by the entity's key executive officer through CEA's online system, the Advanced CEA Estate Agencies System, known as ACEAS. The licence also belongs to one business structure. CEA states that an existing agency that changes its structure, for instance from a sole proprietorship to a company, must apply for a new licence instead of carrying the old one across.

The key executive officer: one named person

Every licensed agency has a key executive officer, usually shortened to KEO. The Act defines the role by pointing to its own section 38: the KEO is the person an estate agent is required to appoint under that section. The qualifying criteria sit in regulation 9(1) of the Estate Agents (Licensing and Registration) Regulations 2010, read here in CEA's consolidated version in force from 1 March 2023, and CEA's licensing page repeats them and adds several more.

Under regulation 9(1), the KEO must be:

• the sole proprietor, a director or a partner of the agency, so not an outside manager;
• at least 21 years old;
• the holder of at least four GCE O-Level passes, or an equivalent or higher qualification as determined by the Council;
• someone with at least three years of estate agency work behind them;
• someone who has either completed at least 30 property transactions in the three years before appointment, or spent at least three years managing an agency's business as an executive director, chief executive, key executive officer, partner or sole proprietor;
• someone who passed the Real Estate Agency examination within the two years before appointment.

The Regulations allow exemptions from the qualification and examination criteria, in regulations 9(2) to 9(4) and 10(2). CEA's page words the examination rule as a pass within the two years before the application, "or an equivalent".

CEA's page then lists conditions that are about independence and standing. The KEO must not at the same time be a sole proprietor, practising director or partner, KEO or salesperson of another licensed agency. The KEO must not previously have been a sole proprietor, KEO, director or partner of an agency whose licence was revoked. The KEO must not hold a moneylender's licence, nor be an employee, director or partner of a licensed moneylender. And the KEO's MediSave contributions under the Central Provident Fund Board's Self-Employed Scheme must be up to date, meaning paid in full or covered by an active GIRO plan. CEA applies that last condition to the agency's directors and partners as well. Foreign applicants are told to check with CEA on the employment pass they would need.

The role matters after the licence is granted too. CEA's page says that if the KEO post falls vacant, the agency must appoint a new KEO within one month. During a renewal exercise the link is tighter still: CEA's renewal page states that an agency cannot renew its licence without a valid KEO whose own salesperson registration is also renewed, and that changing the KEO during the renewal period would prevent the licence from being renewed.

Fit and proper: the firm and the people behind it

A licence is granted to an entity, but the test looks through it to the people who run it. On the entity's side, CEA's licensing page says the business must not be in liquidation, wound up or in receivership, must not have entered a composition or scheme of arrangement with its creditors, and must have no conviction and no civil judgment involving a finding of fraud, dishonesty or breach of fiduciary duties.

On the personal side, the KEO and all directors, partners or persons responsible for the management of the agency must be fit and proper under the Act. Section 3(2) sets out the grounds, and CEA's page lists them. A person is generally not fit and proper if they have a conviction for an offence involving dishonesty or fraud; a civil judgment involving fraud, dishonesty or breach of fiduciary duties; a conviction for money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing; a conviction under the Estate Agents Act itself; or if they are an undischarged bankrupt or have made a composition or arrangement with creditors. The Council may also conclude, after weighing all relevant matters, that a person is not fit and proper for another reason. CEA gives one example of that residual judgment: a prior detention under the Misuse of Drugs Act generally leads to a finding that the person is not fit and proper.

Two points of procedure follow. Applicants must declare every prior conviction, in Singapore or elsewhere, whenever it occurred; the page sets no cut-off after which an old conviction need not be mentioned. And the list describes what "generally" follows, with CEA noting that it may decide otherwise, so the outcome in a borderline case depends on the facts put before the Council.

Insurance before the application

Professional indemnity insurance is bought before the licence is applied for, not after. CEA's page requires a valid policy covering the agency and all of its salespersons for the full period of the licence, and all partners where the agency is a partnership. The minimum cover rises with the size of the firm, while one figure stays fixed: the minimum sub-limit for each salesperson is S$100,000 in every category.

CEA's page notes that the minimum indemnity limit can cover both the entity and its salespersons, and that agencies and salespersons may buy policies with higher cover. The deductible, the part of a claim the insured bears before the policy pays, is capped at the amounts shown.

The renewal page shows how the insurance tracks the licence term. For the 2026 exercise an agency must hold cover for at least 1 January to 31 December 2027, sized on the number of salespersons it has when the policy is bought. For the whole 2027 to 2029 term, the cover must either run for the full period or be bought again each year. The Licensing and Registration Regulations do not set these amounts themselves: regulation 2(1) refers to the Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations 2010 for professional indemnity insurance.

One further financial safeguard sits in the Regulations. Under regulation 13(1) the Council may require security in the form of a bank guarantee of up to S$75,000, under section 33(5) of the Act, and regulation 14 provides for its forfeiture. The pages read for this guide do not say when CEA asks for such a guarantee.

What the licence costs

CEA publishes three kinds of charge, all exempt from GST and all non-refundable, including, the renewal page adds, when an application is withdrawn after it has been submitted. The first is the application fee of S$120, the same for a new licence and for a renewal. The second is the annual licence fee, which depends on how many salespersons the agency has. The third is paid for each salesperson: an application fee of S$60 for registration, also payable when a salesperson switches agencies, and a registration fee of S$280 for a full calendar year or for a part-year that starts on or before 30 June, falling to S$140 for a part-year that starts after 30 June.

General and limited partnerships pay the same tier amount plus S$280 for each practising partner. Half rates apply to licences granted after 30 June and ending on 31 December of that year. Once a licence is approved, CEA requires the agency to set up a GIRO account with it, and the renewal page asks that the account be active and funded before a renewal is submitted.

A worked example, with assumed figures: a company with 25 salespersons falls in the 11 to 30 tier and pays S$660 a year. Over the three-year term from 2027 to 2029 that is 3 × S$660 = S$1,980 in licence fees, plus the single S$120 application fee, S$2,100 in all, assuming its headcount stays in the same tier throughout. Registration of the 25 salespersons at S$280 each adds 25 × S$280 = S$7,000 a year; CEA's pages set the amount per salesperson and do not say how a firm and its salespersons share it.

A second worked example: a general partnership with three practising partners and eight salespersons pays the 1 to 10 tier of S$330 plus 3 × S$280 = S$840, which makes S$1,170 a year. A third: a company with 12 salespersons whose first licence is granted in August pays half of the S$660 tier for that first part-year, S$330.

The change that came with the 2026 exercise concerns the application fee. CEA's renewal page says it is now payable once every three years, while licence and registration fees are still charged annually. Those who applied in 2025 get a one-time refund: S$60 of the S$120 for agencies and S$30 of the S$60 for salespersons, with CEA due to contact those eligible by December 2026. The page adds that this fee update supersedes the fee information in its Notice 16-26 of 28 July 2026.

Applying through ACEAS

The application is made online by the KEO, and CEA sets out the order. What differs is the last step, which depends on where the applicant stands on the day.

For a KEO who is currently a salesperson with a licensed agency, starting the application generates a switching request that, in CEA's words, is to be supported by the current agency. For someone returning to the industry, CEA describes logging in with the entity's Corppass to start the application, then going back to the Active Applications section of ACEAS to complete and submit it.

The two to three weeks run from the point at which CEA has all required documents and fees, and CEA says it informs the applicant of an approval at the email address given in the application. Beyond the people and the policy, CEA expects paperwork about how the firm will run: standard operating procedures and guidelines covering areas such as the training and supervision of salespersons, complaints handling, advertising, client confidentiality and service standards. This mirrors regulation 6(1)(a), under which an estate agent must have systems and processes to ensure the proper management of its business and of its salespersons.

A three-year licence and the 2026 renewal

Licences end on 31 December, and CEA renews the whole industry in one annual exercise. The 2026 exercise runs from 1 October to 30 November 2026, and CEA strongly advises submitting by 30 November. Applications are still accepted from 1 to 31 December 2026, but CEA warns that it may not approve them before 1 January 2027, and the consequence is spelt out: an agency in that position cannot carry out estate agency work from 1 January 2027 until its renewal is approved. To renew successfully, the application must be approved by 31 December 2026.

A successful renewal gives a three-year licence, valid from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029, and once approved the licence and all the agency's salesperson registrations run to that same end date. The following renewal will cover 1 January 2030 to 31 December 2032, with details that CEA says it will provide in due course.

The conditions for renewal fall on people as much as on the firm. KEOs and salespersons must have completed their continuing professional development and cleared the MediSave requirement; CEA explains that clearance follows full payment or the first successful GIRO deduction, which is taken on the 25th of the month or the next working day. For the 2027 to 2029 term they must also meet a three-year Currency Requirement. Regulation 12(1) is the legal base for the training condition: renewal requires the sole proprietor, the partners or directors who do estate agency work, and the KEO to meet the continuing education requirements, measured over a cycle that regulation 12(2) runs from 1 October to 30 September.

Firm-level conditions are checked too. The agency must be registered with ACRA, and its ACRA record of directors and partners must match its member list in ACEAS. Foreign practising directors or partners must supply a Certificate of No Criminal Conviction dated within three months of the application, or proof of residence in Singapore for 2016 to 2026; those without Singpass are not in ACEAS, and CEA says it will contact their agencies separately.

The order of submission runs upwards through the firm. Directors and partners submit to their agency; the agency submits its own licence renewal, which also renews the KEO's registration; then it submits the renewals of its salespersons as it receives them. CEA generates invoices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, GIRO deduction completes within two to three working days, and once fees are paid the new end dates can be checked on the CEA Public Register.

Day-to-day duties: supervision, notices and records

A licence brings continuing obligations, and the first is responsibility for the people who work under it. CEA's regulatory and enforcement framework overview states at paragraph 2.4 that a property agency is accountable for the actions of its agents, and that lapses by an agent are referred to the agency for service recovery. CEA's 2021 industry briefing on the amended Act told KEOs that they have to take charge of, and be responsible for, their salespersons.

That responsibility starts at the door. Under regulation 15(2), when a person seeks registration as a salesperson, the agency must certify in the Council's form that the person meets the requirements of the Act. It ends with a notice: regulation 21 requires the agency to tell the Council when a salesperson's employment or appointment ends.

Changes in between must be reported quickly. Regulation 19 requires an agency to notify the Council within 7 days after any change to information it has submitted, electronically, on the "Update of Information" form, and regulation 20 sets the same 7 days for the events listed in section 43 of the Act. CEA's licensing page describes the duty as notifying changes within 7 working days through ACEAS. The Regulations say days and the page says working days; an agency that keeps to the shorter reading satisfies both.

Records are the third duty. The 2021 briefing sets out what an agency must do against money laundering and terrorism financing: identify, assess and mitigate its risks; document its risk assessments and keep them up to date; develop internal controls; carry out internal checks and audits; and train its salespersons on an ongoing basis. Records of transactions, risk assessments, compliance management and internal controls are to be kept for at least 5 years. The same briefing describes a monthly routine: agencies submit their salespersons' transaction records by the 7th of each month, for publication on the 15th.

CEA can check all of this on the spot. Its framework overview says that under sections 46 and 47 of the Act it may inspect premises, require items and documents to be produced or take them into its possession, and require potential offenders and witnesses to attend interviews. Failure to comply may lead to prosecution in court.

Discipline: from a warning letter to the committee

CEA's framework sorts misconduct into three tracks, and an agency can find itself on any of them. The dividing lines were redrawn by amendments to the Act that Parliament passed on 5 May 2020 and that CEA's briefing of June 2021 said would come into effect in July 2021.

Minor breaches are dealt with by CEA itself, under what it calls the Letter of Censure regime. The briefing's example of a minor breach is advertising a property without the owner's consent. Before the amendments both ceilings before the committee stood at S$75,000 per case, for agencies and salespersons alike. The briefing says a first minor breach with no prior record will generally bring a Letter of Warning, that repeat breaches attract stiffer penalties, and that repeated minor breaches may be sent to the Disciplinary Committee. Outcomes are published in the "Disciplinary Action" field of the CEA Public Register.

The procedure gives the firm a say at each stage. After a Notice of Intent, the agency or salesperson has 14 calendar days to submit a written explanation. After a Notice of Decision they may ask CEA to reconsider, and CEA issues its reconsidered decision within 14 calendar days. An appeal then lies to an Appeals Board under the Ministry of National Development.

Serious breaches go to the Disciplinary Committee; the briefing's example is failing to declare a conflict of interest. Money is only one of its tools. According to the framework overview it may also revoke or suspend a licence or registration, impose or vary conditions on it, or issue a written admonishment or reprimand.

The third track is criminal. Some misconduct is an offence under the Act or its subsidiary legislation and may be prosecuted in court, with a fine, imprisonment or both, up to the statutory maximums. For offences that can be compounded, CEA may offer composition in place of prosecution. The briefing also names two outcomes that are not penalties at all: a service failure is referred back to the agency to resolve, and where no breach is found CEA takes no further action or sends a letter of reminder.

Questions the published pages leave open

Several points a new agency owner would want settled are not answered by the pages this guide relies on, and they are listed here so that nothing above is read as covering them.

The Licensing and Registration Regulations do not state how long a licence lasts; the three-year term comes from CEA's renewal page for the 2026 exercise. CEA's licensing page gives no age for the KEO, while regulation 9(1) sets it at 21. The page counts 7 working days for notifying changes where regulations 19 and 20 count 7 days. Regulation 21 sets no time limit for reporting that a salesperson has left. The time allowed for an appeal to the Appeals Board is not clear from the briefing's flowchart. And the circumstances in which the Council asks for a bank guarantee of up to S$75,000 are not described.

The licence belongs to the firm, yet almost every condition attached to it is about a person: who leads, who is covered, who is supervised.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →