Whether you are an outsider, planning to build up your offices or want to relocate your business in Singapore, or you are setting up the offices for the first time, the terms and condition as well as the leasing practices are different, and vary from one country to other, and we believe that this Leasing Guide will help you to clear your instincts regarding the common practices in Singapore and will surely assist you in securing better place in the commercial space.
1.Process
Ascertaining and planning your requirements
In every sector, planning is the most important thing, and here, it is essential while exploring the option of office leasing. Before you delve into the designing phase of your office, here are some checklists of your necessary requirements, which will include:
- Location.
- The total area of the office space or size: it completely depends on the number of employees present in your firm. Based on that, evaluate your short and long-term plans. Sometimes you may require expanding your business and for that additional space is necessary.
- Time.
- Calculation of the budget.
- The lease term.
- Apart from this, other necessary requirements like technical requirements, security services, infrastructure, IT and communication, and much more.
2.Review options
The above checklists are relevant and ready for your office searching purpose. You can contact the landlord directly for liaising or else you can also hire an agent to assist you throughout the time. Give yourself enough time to do proper research regarding the options and review them carefully by shortlisting the options.
If you are not yet decided which option you should go for signing the lease, and what will be the best space work for your office setup, you can engage the workspace designer for these issues to carry out a “test-fit” for your chosen options, which ensure that your leasing accommodates or requirements are fulfilled properly. This “test-fit” analysis will results in an appropriate manner and proves to be the best for optimum use of the space. Apart from this, the workspace designers are also capable enough to manage your fit-out expenses, which will enable you to analyze the difference between the financial aspects and efficiency of the options.
3.Lease sign
- Letter of Intent (LOI)
It is regarded as the first step towards the success and for tenancy agreement. Tenants are supposed to submit the LOI in the form of writing along with the ACRA bizfile, to the concerned landlord in order to begin the negotiation process. This LOI will describe the needs of the business for the tenants and will also mention the extra costs that are required for the landlord.
- Letter of Offer (LOO)
This letter will be given only after getting prior permission from both the parties and by satisfying all the terms and condition regarding the agreement. The LOO can also be given in the form of a draft tenancy agreement to the tenants to go through it properly. In more general terms, tenants are given with some time period, mainly 7 to 10 days to sign the concerned LOO and they are supposed to return it to the landlord along with a non-refundable deposit. In many areas, LOO is accepted as legally binding.
- Tenancy agreement (TA)
After signing the LOO, the TA will be given to the respective tenant. They will have 2 to 3 weeks on their hands to sign the documents for further process. Tenants can also seek the advice from the lawyers, which are common with the local tenancy laws. It is important to notice that most of the landlords have their own TA that are drafted out as well as will not even allow you do much change.
- Taking over/handling
After depositing the security amount, rental deposit, covering the stamp duty and ensuring that they must be paid up, and all the documents need to be signed in time, and then only the landlord will allow the tenant to move towards further processes.