Letter of Offer
On agreeing heads of terms the landlord will normally issue a Letter of Offer which outlines the general terms upon which the agreement is based. Often this is accompanied with a copy of a draft standard lease. The landlords usually give 1 week to 10 days for the tenant to sign the Letter of Offer and return together with an initial deposit of 1 months rental.
Lease Documentation / Security Deposit
Before the tenant signs a Letter of Offer and pays over the initial 1 months rental deposit (sometimes landlords ask for 3 months) he/she should be happy with the terms of the offer and be reasonably comfortable with the draft lease. This is because the deposit is normally non-refundable.
Whilst it is not intended that all the terms and terminology of the lease are finalized at this stage, the tenant should be satisfied there are no major obstacles in the lease before signing the Letter of Offer.
After signing the Letter of Offer tenants as usually given one month to finalize the drafting of the lease. Many landlords in Singapore will have their own standard lease documentation which they will not want to vary too much. Therefore major changes are unlikely and we always recommend all tenants to use local lawyers familiar with landlord and tenant legislation in Singapore.
Taking Possession
Before taking possession the tenant must have signed the lease and paid the remainder of the deposit monies and one months rent in advance i.e. four months rent in total.
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