Improving Rental Transactions for Landlords, Tenants, and Agents
STANDARD RESIDENTIAL TENANCY AGREEMENTS - NEW
The Real Estate Industry Transformation Map (REITM) provides a roadmap for the transformation of real estate industry to be future-ready. Launched on 8 February 2018, it focuses on the areas of property transaction services and facilities management.
A Digitalised Property Transaction Workgroup (DPTWG) was formed and has worked with government agencies to progressively make available Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) on property-related government data. The DPTWG has since mapped out and developed standard tenancy agreement templates and checklists to aid consumers and agents in their rental journey.
The Institute of Estate Agents, Singapore (IEA) led the initiative to develop the templates together with regulatory agencies, consumer and industry associations as well as practitioners experienced in the residential rental transaction process. IEA had also developed standard tenancy agreement templates for HDB and private residential properties.
Agents using these tenancy agreement templates for their clients would be able to spend less time negotiating contractual terms and conditions.
Ms Tracey Wong, Chief Executive Officer of IEA, said, “Currently, everyone prefers to use his or her own version of the tenancy agreement, which can at times be biased towards one party… The standard templates will promote productivity and reduce the hassle involved in negotiating the terms in the tenancy.”
She added that agents should encourage their clients to use these standard tenancy agreements, as the clauses within were drafted to strike the right balance in protecting the interests of both landlords and tenants. The clauses cover the main aspects for parties to negotiate in a tenancy while providing flexibility by allowing additional clauses to be included.
The templates also contain applicable clauses that govern the rights and obligations of the various parties. The templates further include guide to help both tenants and landlords on the key items to look out for at the end of the tenancy.
Note: This article was published back in 2019, and re-published to share information about REITM and IEA’s initiatives to support REITM.
