Singapore Expats

Hi there...

My lease is up in august and after I informed my landlord that I would like to renew, he surprised me with the humble offer to increase my rent with 50%.
Can anybody confirm that prices (around Clementi) did go up like this in the last 2 years? Did I miss something?
If I compare what units are on the market at the moment than the rent should be 20-30% (and the rent for theses units are "negotiable").

I mean I am a really nice tenant, never paid late, keep everything in good order, female, single, I even paint the unit and my dad is repairing stuff when my parents come over for vacation.

Oh, and I read somewhere that the rules changed for the commission of agents? is that true? so if I renew my contract do I have to pay an agent again?

sometimes, it has nothing to do with how good of a tenant you are but how the perceived market rates will give him a chance to raise the rent.

or simply put, greed.

you could always look for similar properties online to check just how much renting a flat would cost.

Move out. Don't let someone rip you off. Same happened to me - our rental just shot up potentially 30-40% as we have new owners. I can understand a 10-20% increase but anything more is a just taking the p*ss.

It's a renter's market at the moment - there appears to be many more properties on the market compared to the same time last year.

But sometimes you can't compete with the mindset over here. By that I mean if you have a tenant willing to commit or the place could be potentially empty for 3-4 months - thus effectively cancelling out any increase in rental and making more of a loss - most owners seem to prefer the latter option for some bizarre reason!!

monne wrote:Hi there...

My lease is up in august and after I informed my landlord that I would like to renew, he surprised me with the humble offer to increase my rent with 50%.
Can anybody confirm that prices (around Clementi) did go up like this in the last 2 years? Did I miss something?
If I compare what units are on the market at the moment than the rent should be 20-30% (and the rent for theses units are "negotiable").

I mean I am a really nice tenant, never paid late, keep everything in good order, female, single, I even paint the unit and my dad is repairing stuff when my parents come over for vacation.

Oh, and I read somewhere that the rules changed for the commission of agents? is that true? so if I renew my contract do I have to pay an agent again?

Try asking around your neighbouring units. That would give you the best indication of how much you should be paying now.

BillyB wrote:Move out. Don't let someone rip you off. Same happened to me - our rental just shot up potentially 30-40% as we have new owners. I can understand a 10-20% increase but anything more is a just taking the p*ss.

It's a renter's market at the moment - there appears to be many more properties on the market compared to the same time last year.

But sometimes you can't compete with the mindset over here. By that I mean if you have a tenant willing to commit or the place could be potentially empty for 3-4 months - thus effectively cancelling out any increase in rental and making more of a loss - most owners seem to prefer the latter option for some bizarre reason!!

If I were the OP I'd find evidence on which to make a counter-offer and give it to the landlord. The landlord might be greedy, but if you show him hard black and white facts he hopefully will not be blind as well.

For the places I rent out, the rent is reviewed annually in line with inflation (RPI). Very simple, and everyone is clear on it. On the downside (for me) this means that longer term tenants can end up paying materially under the market rent. On the upside they are wise enough to realise that fact and it acts as a further incentive to remain and be good tenants. Hence I have quality tenants with very low turnover and almost zero voids which is most unusual in the central London young professionals market.

You may be dealing with one of the butthead LLs who will cut off their nose to spite their kiasu-ridden face, pun intended.

That is, the type who would rather chance a long vacancy and more money lost rather than be civilized and raise the rent a fair percentage.

In those cases there is no win because they see everything as loosing face.

Agree with BB, the options are in your favor.