What goes into a tenancy agreement in Singapore: the CEA template

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Kooky

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A residential tenancy in Singapore is a private contract. There is no compulsory form for a private home. What gives the market a common reference is a template: the tenancy agreement for private residential property that the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) publishes alongside its checklists for landlords and tenants. It answers in writing most of the questions that turn into arguments later: who pays for a broken appliance, how often the air-conditioning is serviced, when the landlord may come in, what happens to the deposit.

This guide reads that template clause by clause, as version 1.3 stood when it was read on 10 October 2026, and separates what the template fixes from what it leaves blank for the parties. It then follows the agreement out of the template and into three places where other rules apply: the stamping of the tenancy, as the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) describes it; the commission of the property agents on each side, as the CEA describes it; and the Small Claims Tribunals, where the Singapore Courts say a dispute over a short residential tenancy may be taken. It also names what the official pages read for this guide do not cover, including the letter of intent.

IRAS lease duty poster for tenants and landlords (correct as at 19 June 2026); CEA template tenancy agreement for private residential property, version 1.3; Singapore Courts page on filing a small claim (updated 8 April 2026).

Who wrote the template, and what status it has

The template's own cover note says it was drafted by the Digitalised Property Transactions Workgroup, a group set up under the Real Estate Industry Transformation Map. Its members come from public and private sector bodies, and the cover note names the Law Society, the Consumers Association of Singapore and the Housing and Development Board among them. A CEA article of 13 March 2024 adds two facts: the CEA leads the workgroup, and the workgroup developed the tenancy agreement templates in 2019, then reviewed them. The article describes their purpose as a common standard that is fair to all parties.

There are two templates, one for HDB flats and one for private residential property. Only the private one was read for this guide, and everything below refers to it. The version read is 1.3, updated on 11 March 2024. According to the CEA's article, that revision added the contact details of landlord and tenant to the document, after feedback about delays when communication passed through the salesperson. The cover note calls the template a recommended guide and disclaims liability for its use, and the CEA's page on renting a private residential property, last updated on 22 July 2026, says it is not compulsory and that the parties may add clauses. A tenancy agreement that departs from it is therefore not defective for that reason.

The schedule: what the parties fill in

The template opens with a schedule, and most of the commercial deal lives there, not in the clauses. It asks for the date, the address and the type of property; the landlord and the tenant, each with an identity or registration number, a correspondence address and contact details; and the occupiers, by name and identity document. The term has blank start and end dates, with one fixed floor: a minimum of three consecutive months.

Rent is entered as a monthly amount with a payment day and a first payment date, and the schedule breaks it into three parts, each a blank: rental, furniture and fittings, and maintenance fees. The security deposit is entered as an amount and as a number of months' rent. Neither is suggested by the template: the number of months of deposit is whatever the parties write.

The remaining items are the ones the later clauses refer back to. Item 10 sets the tenant's cap for minor repairs, Item 11 the commission to be refunded if the tenant leaves early, and Item 12 the party who pays the stamp fees. Item 14 switches the diplomatic clause on or off, and Item 15 does the same for an option to renew. Item 19 gives the length, in days, of what the template calls the problem-free period. Clause 14 says a special condition written into the schedule prevails over the operative part where the two conflict.

Rent, the security deposit and the bills

Clause 1 limits the home to use as a private residence by the tenant and the occupiers named in the schedule. It also writes an occupancy cap into the contract: no more than six unrelated persons, with family members, domestic workers and care or medical assistants left out of the count. Rent is payable in advance, with no deduction and no set-off.

The deposit is handled in clause 2.2. It is paid on signing. The landlord may deduct reasonable amounts from it to put right a breach by the tenant, but only after giving written notice and allowing 14 days for the tenant to remedy the breach, or another period the parties agree. It is refunded without interest when the term expires or the tenancy is terminated. Two things follow from the wording. First, the template states no number of days within which the refund must be made, so any refund date is one the parties would have to write in themselves. Second, the tenant may not treat the deposit as rent: the clause says it cannot be used to pay rent, which rules out the practice of leaving the last months unpaid and telling the landlord to keep the deposit.

Utilities and telecommunications are the tenant's under clauses 2.3 and 2.4, each including goods and services tax.

Clause 3 deals with the immigration status of the people living in the home. The tenant undertakes that every occupier is lawfully resident and, for foreigners, to check the original documents personally. The landlord may ask to inspect originals and to receive certified true copies. A change in an occupier's status must be notified in writing at least 14 days in advance, or as soon as practicable where it could not be foreseen, and the tenant indemnifies the landlord on immigration and employment matters for the term.

Repairs: the problem-free period, the cap and the air-conditioning

The template splits repairs by time and by size. The first split is the problem-free period of Item 19, which starts on the first day of the tenancy and lasts the number of days the parties write in. Under clause 4.1, the landlord cannot hold the tenant responsible for defects the tenant reports in writing during that period, and the landlord fixes them. The length is a blank, so a template signed with Item 19 left empty has no such period to rely on.

After that period, clause 4.2 gives the tenant the minor repairs, the replacement parts and the consumables, electrical appliances and light bulbs included, up to the cap in Item 10, counted per item and per incident. Above the cap, the cost falls on the landlord, unless the damage comes from the tenant's negligence or wilful default. The tenant needs the landlord's written consent before carrying out a repair that costs more than the cap, and the landlord reimburses the excess within 7 days. Where an item is beyond repair, the landlord pays for the replacement unless the tenant is at fault.

A worked example, with assumed figures: the parties write a cap of S$200 in Item 10, and a washing machine supplied by the landlord fails through ordinary use eight months into the term, with a repair quoted at S$350. The tenant asks for written consent, pays, and bears S$200; the landlord owes the excess of S$350 − S$200 = S$150, within 7 days. If the same quote were S$180, the tenant would bear all of it. The cap is not a figure the template supplies, and Item 10 also has a line for what the tenant pays on excess costs, so the split in a signed agreement is the one written in its own schedule.

Air-conditioning has two clauses of its own. Under clause 4.4, the tenant has the units serviced by a qualified contractor at least every three months, at the tenant's cost and including gas top-ups, gives the landlord a copy of the servicing contract within 30 days of the start of the term, and produces receipts on request at the end. Under clause 4.5, breakdowns, replacement parts and chemical cleaning are the landlord's, unless the breakdown results from the tenant's negligence or poor maintenance. The servicing receipts are therefore more than paperwork: they are what shows that a later breakdown was not caused by missed maintenance.

Where the tenant causes the need for a repair, the landlord gives written notice and the tenant has 14 days to do the work, failing which the landlord may do it and recover the cost as a debt. On the other side, clause 6.1 has the landlord insure the home against fire and keep the structure, the sanitary pipes, the electrical wiring and the concealed drains and conduits in good repair.

The landlord's access and the tenant's restrictions

The landlord's promise of quiet enjoyment sits in clause 6.1(b): the tenant may peacefully enjoy the home so long as the rent is paid and the obligations are met. Access is the exception to it, and the template treats three kinds of visit differently.

For inspection or works, clause 4.7 lets the landlord and the landlord's agents enter at reasonable times by prior appointment. No number of hours or days is fixed for that appointment. For viewings by prospective tenants, clause 5.6 applies only in the last two months of the term and requires 48 hours' written notice from the landlord. For viewings by prospective buyers, clause 5.7 applies at any point in the term, again on 48 hours' written notice, and adds that any sale is subject to the tenancy.

Clause 5.1 lists what the tenant may not do. Alterations need written consent, drilling and nailing are barred except to hang pictures, locks are not changed without consent, and smoking inside the home is excluded outright.

Two items in the list restrain the landlord as much as the tenant. Assignment and subletting need consent, but the template says consent cannot be unreasonably withheld, while a corporate tenant may not sublet unless that has been agreed. Pets need consent too, and again it cannot be unreasonably withheld.

Leaving early: diplomatic clause, default and en bloc

The template contains no general right to walk away from a fixed term. What it offers is Item 14, headed as a diplomatic or break clause, and it is optional: the parties mark it as applicable or not applicable. Where it applies, three blanks define it: the number of months after which it can be used, the notice the tenant must give, and an amount of rent that may be paid in lieu of that notice. None of the three carries a default figure in the template. A tenant who expects a posting abroad, and a landlord who wants a guaranteed minimum period, are negotiating over those blanks.

An early exit under that clause has a cost attached, in Item 11. If the tenant terminates early by written notice, the tenant refunds the landlord a share of the commission the landlord paid to an agent, pro rata, and the landlord may deduct it from the deposit. As a worked example with assumed figures: the landlord paid a commission of S$4,800 for a 24-month term, and the tenant validly ends the tenancy after 16 months. If pro rata is taken over the 8 unexpired months, the refund is S$4,800 × 8 ÷ 24 = S$1,600. The basis of the calculation is the one written in the signed agreement.

The landlord's own exits are in clauses 7 and 10. The landlord may terminate in writing if rent remains unpaid 7 days after it falls due, whether or not it was demanded, or if another breach is not remedied within 14 days of written notice. Unpaid rent then carries interest at 10 per cent a year from the due date until payment in full. A worked example: rent of S$4,000 paid 30 days late, with interest computed on a 365-day year (an assumption; the template does not state a day count), gives S$4,000 × 10% × 30 ÷ 365 = S$32.88. The tenancy ends automatically, and the landlord may forfeit the deposit, if a prohibited immigrant is found in the home or if the tenant's status changes so that the tenant can no longer lawfully live in Singapore.

Clause 10 covers a collective sale. The landlord may end the tenancy on at least three months' written notice for an en bloc redevelopment, and the deposit is refunded without interest.

The template fixes the periods that govern everyday friction and leaves blank the figures that decide what the tenancy costs: the deposit, the repair cap, the break.

Inventory, condition report and handing back

Two documents fix the starting point, and each is prepared by a different party. Under clause 15, the landlord prepares the inventory list (Annexure B) in two copies at handover. Under clause 16, the tenant prepares the property condition report (Annexure C) in two copies. The template treats these documents as conclusive evidence of the starting position.

One detail is worth checking in any copy. As the template was read for this guide, clause 16.1 gives the tenant the problem-free period of Item 19 to prepare the report, while Annexure C speaks of 30 days from the start of the term. Where Item 19 is filled with a different number of days, the two do not match, and the parties may want the agreement to say which applies.

At the other end, clause 5.4 has the tenant return the home in a condition similar to that at handover, apart from authorised alterations, fair wear and tear and acts of God. Clause 5.5 provides for a joint inspection before the hand-back, after which the tenant is liable only for the defects found at that inspection, and Annexure A is an end-of-tenancy checklist. Clause 20 adds a point that is easy to miss: the tenancy does not end on its expiry date until the keys, access cards and transponders are returned, and rent goes on running until then even if the tenant has moved out.

The letter of intent and good-faith deposit: outside the official pages

Two terms do not appear anywhere in the material read for this guide: the letter of intent and the good-faith deposit. The CEA's two renting pages, its checklist for tenants of private residential property (version 1.1, updated 18 November 2020) and the template itself contain no letter of intent, no good-faith or booking deposit, and no figure for either. The template knows one deposit only, the security deposit of Item 9, paid on signing.

What the CEA's tenant checklist does cover is the verification that belongs to this early stage, before any money moves: the landlord's name, the ownership of the property, its specifications and restrictions, and that it is approved for residential use. Where the landlord is a company, the checklist adds its registration number or Unique Entity Number.

Stamping the tenancy: who pays, and by when

A tenancy agreement attracts stamp duty, and the question of who pays has a default. The IRAS poster on lease duty for tenants and landlords, correct as at 19 June 2026, says tenants are liable to pay stamp duty unless the tenancy agreement states otherwise. The CEA's tenant checklist says the same, and the template's Item 12 carries a footnote to the same effect: absent agreement, the tenant pays under the Stamp Duties Act. Item 12 exists so that the parties record their choice.

The deadline depends on where the agreement was signed. According to the IRAS poster, the stamping record is submitted within 14 days after signing if the agreement is signed in Singapore, and within 30 days after the agreement is received in Singapore if it is signed overseas. As a worked example, an agreement signed in Singapore on 1 September 2026 had to be submitted by 15 September 2026.

The Stamp Certificate matters to the landlord as much as to the tenant. The poster says landlords need it to pursue legal action, and lists the kinds of dispute it has in mind.

On how the duty is computed, only the principle could be read. IRAS's page on renting a property states that stamp duty on leases is payable on the contractual rent or the market rent, whichever is higher, at the lease duty rates. The rates themselves, the treatment of the furniture and maintenance components of the rent, and the penalties for late stamping could not be read on the IRAS site or in the First Schedule of the Stamp Duties Act for this guide, so no rate and no worked duty figure are given here. They are published by IRAS.

What the agents' commission rules say

Where property agents are involved, their pay is a matter between each agent and that agent's own client. The CEA's page on renting through a property agent says there are no fixed commission rates and no prescribed guidelines on the amount. The client agrees the amount and the terms with the agent before the work starts, and checks whether goods and services tax is payable on it. Payment falls due when the transaction is completed, and it goes to the agency, not to the individual agent.

The rule that shapes a rental most directly is the one against being paid twice. According to the CEA, an agent cannot collect commission from more than one party to the same transaction, and doing so is an offence. An agent paid by the tenant cannot take a commission or a co-broking fee from the landlord or the landlord's agent. The CEA's page does not say that one side's commission is always borne by a given party; it says each agent is paid by one party only.

The same page marks where the agent's work stops. The agent's role ends once the tenancy agreement is signed and the property is handed over to the tenant. Arranging repairs or collecting rent during the term is property management, which the CEA says is not estate agency work.

Where disputes go: mediation and the Small Claims Tribunals

The template's own answer is in clause 13. Singapore law governs the agreement, and the parties must first refer a dispute to mediation or arbitration, at a centre they agree on.

The CEA's page on renting a private home states the limit of its own role: it cannot act on a dispute that does not involve a property agency or a property agent. For a dispute between landlord and tenant, it points to mediation at a Community Mediation Centre, to the Small Claims Tribunals, or to legal action.

The Singapore Courts' page on filing a small claim, updated on 8 April 2026, lists residential tenancy agreements not exceeding 2 years among the claims the tribunals hear. The general limit is S$20,000, raised to S$30,000 if both parties sign a Memorandum of Consent. Both conditions matter for a tenancy: a claim over a three-year lease, or a claim above the limit, is not described there as a small claim. As a worked example, a tenant on a two-year tenancy who disputes deductions of S$9,000 from the deposit is within the S$20,000 limit; a landlord claiming S$26,000 in unpaid rent and repairs under the same tenancy is above it, and within the tribunals' reach only if the tenant signs the Memorandum of Consent.

The procedure runs online. The claimant files and serves the claim through the Community Justice and Tribunals System and pays a filing fee, which is not refunded if the claim is withdrawn. The parties may settle through the system's negotiation or mediation tools. Failing that, they attend a consultation with a registrar, and if that does not settle the matter a tribunal magistrate hears the claim and decides it. The Singapore Courts state that lawyers are not allowed to represent parties in these matters. The amount of the filing fees and the time limit for bringing a claim are not on the page read, and are left out here.

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.

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