Landlord & tenant law

Study notes

Landlord and tenant law governs every letting. The exam wants you to distinguish leases from licences, know how a tenancy is created and stamped, and apply the parties’ obligations to short scenarios.

What you must know

• A lease grants exclusive possession for a term; a licence is a personal permission to occupy with no exclusive possession — the distinction controls the occupier’s rights.
• Tenancies may be fixed-term (commonly 1–2 years in Singapore) or periodic (running month to month).
• A tenancy agreement should be stamped — stamp duty is payable and an unstamped agreement is not admissible in evidence; in practice the tenant pays.
• Landlord obligations: quiet enjoyment, premises reasonably fit for habitation at the start, and repair of structure as agreed.
• Tenant obligations: pay rent, use the premises with care, and not assign or sublet without consent.
• A security deposit (commonly one month’s rent) guards against arrears and damage; forfeiture and damages follow serious breach.
• A diplomatic clause lets an expatriate tenant terminate early after a lock-in period with due notice — watch the notice period and the qualifying event.
• Privity of contract binds the original parties; privity of estate binds landlord and current tenant for the duration of the tenancy.