🔑 Landlord and Tenant Law and Property Torts

1. Why is a lease described in Singapore land law as an interest in land rather than a purely personal arrangement?

1. It gives the tenant a personal permission that ends once the land is sold
2. It transfers the freehold to the tenant for the duration of the term
3. It gives the tenant a leasehold estate capable of binding later owners
4. It gives the tenant a right of way over the land, much like an easement

A lease carves a leasehold estate (a term of years) out of the landlord's title. Being proprietary, it can bind the landlord's successors: the recommended private tenancy template states that the premises 'shall be sold subject to the tenancy' (Operative Part cl. 5.7), and a lease exceeding 7 years is registrable under the Land Titles Act 1993, s.87. A licence, by contrast, is a mere personal permission, and the freehold always stays with the landlord.

2. Mr Arjun Nair holds a 3-year lease of a shop unit. His friend Mr Daniel Koh uses a desk in a co-working space under a licence from its operator. Both are selling their businesses and want to pass their rights over the premises to their buyers. What is the general legal position?

1. Both may pass on their rights freely, as each pays a regular monthly fee
2. Mr Koh's licence is assignable by notice; Mr Nair's lease is personal to him
3. Neither may pass on his rights, as both are personal to the original holder
4. Mr Nair's lease is assignable, subject to its terms; Mr Koh's licence is not

A lease is an estate in land, so it is property that can be dealt with: it can be assigned (a registered lease by a transfer in the approved form, Land Titles Act 1993, s.63(1)), subject to any covenant requiring the landlord's consent. A licence is only a personal permission that creates no interest in land (the Registrar does not even notify licences, s.95(2)), so Mr Koh cannot assign it; his buyer needs a fresh licence from the operator.

3. Mr Suresh Pillai rents a condominium unit under a 2-year tenancy on the recommended private residential template. He dies 8 months into the term. The landlord tells his family that the tenancy 'died with him' and that nobody owes any further rent. What is the legal position?

1. The tenancy ends on his death, as a lease is a personal right of the tenant
2. The tenancy passes automatically to the relative living in the unit
3. The tenancy vests in his personal representatives and does not end
4. The tenancy ends, and the landlord must refund all rent paid in advance

A lease is an estate in land, not a personal right, so a fixed-term tenancy does not end when the tenant dies: it vests in his personal representatives (executor or administrator), who answer for the rent out of his estate and may negotiate a surrender with the landlord. The template reflects this by defining 'the Tenant', where a natural person, to include his personal representatives (Operative Part cl. 21.1). Only a tenancy at will ends on a party's death.

4. Mr Lim Wei Jie is the registered proprietor of a 30-year lease of a factory unit granted by a private landowner. He wants a bank loan secured on his interest in the factory. Under the Land Titles Act 1993, what is the general position?

1. The lease can be mortgaged once the bank has first bought the reversion
2. The freehold owner alone can offer the factory land as security for a loan
3. The lease is an interest in land that can be mortgaged, subject to its terms
4. A lease is a personal contract, so a bank cannot take it as its security

Registered land may be mortgaged by an instrument of mortgage in the approved form (Land Titles Act 1993, s.68(1)), and 'land' is defined to include any estate or interest in land, so a registered lease can itself be mortgaged; the mortgage operates as a security only (s.68(3)). The lessee must still respect any covenant in his lease that requires the lessor's consent to a mortgage. He does not need the freeholder to offer the land, and the bank need not acquire the reversion.

5. A sheriff executes a writ of distress for unpaid rent at a tenant's house under the Distress Act 1934. Which of the following items of the tenant's property is exempt from seizure under the writ?

1. The tenant's television set and leather sofa kept in the living room
2. The tenant's necessary clothing and bedding for himself and his family
3. The tenant's jewellery, kept in a locked drawer in the master bedroom
4. The tenant's second car, parked and not in use in the porch of the house

The writ directs the sheriff to distrain movable property found on the premises (Distress Act 1934, s.7), but s.8 exempts, among other things, the tenant's necessary wearing apparel and necessary bedding for himself and his family (s.8(c)), things in actual use in a person's hands (s.8(a)) and goods in the custody of the law (s.8(f)). A television, a sofa, jewellery and a car that is not in use enjoy no such exemption.

6. A 99-year lease of an HDB flat granted by HDB to the flat owner and a 2-year tenancy of a private condominium unit have which legal character in common?

1. Both are licences, as each is granted by a landlord for a payment
2. Both are leasehold estates, i.e. terms carved out of a superior title
3. Both are freehold estates, giving the occupier full ownership rights
4. Both are easements, as each confers a right over another's land

Each is a leasehold estate (a term of years) granted out of a superior title: HDB, as lessor, grants a 99-year lease to the flat owner, and a condominium owner grants a shorter term to a tenant. The HDB tenancy template itself refers to 'the Lease granted to the Landlord by the HDB' (Operative Part cl. 1.2). Neither confers freehold ownership, and both differ from licences (personal permissions) and easements (rights over land owned by another).

7. What is meant by the 'dual relationship' between a landlord and a tenant?

1. They are linked both as principal and agent and as fiduciaries
2. They are linked both as trustee and as beneficiary of the land
3. They are linked both by contract and by an estate in the same land
4. They are linked both as mortgagee and as mortgagor of the land

A lease is at once a contract, giving privity of contract between the parties who made it, and the grant of an estate in land, giving privity of estate between whoever are for the time being landlord and tenant under the same lease. Agency, trust and mortgage relationships are distinct legal relationships that a lease does not create.

8. Mr Kwek let his shophouse to Ms Rao for 6 years. With Mr Kwek's consent, Ms Rao later assigned the lease to Mr Chua, who now occupies the shophouse. Mr Kwek then sold the reversion to Mdm Lee. Ms Rao was never released from her covenants. Between which parties does privity of estate now exist?

1. Mr Kwek and Ms Rao, as the two original parties to the lease
2. Mdm Lee and Mr Chua, as current landlord and current tenant
3. Mr Kwek and Mr Chua, as consenting landlord and the assignee
4. Mdm Lee and Ms Rao, as the new landlord and the first tenant

Privity of estate exists between the persons who for the time being hold the reversion and the lease, so it now links Mdm Lee and Mr Chua. Privity of contract, by contrast, remains between the original parties, Mr Kwek and Ms Rao, unless they are released, for example by a novation. Mr Kwek no longer holds the reversion and Ms Rao no longer holds the lease, so neither has privity of estate.

9. Mr Lim granted Mr Tan a 5-year lease of an office unit. In year 2, with Mr Lim's written consent, Mr Tan assigned the lease to Ms Wong. Mr Lim never agreed to release Mr Tan. Ms Wong has now failed to pay 3 months' rent. Against whom can Mr Lim proceed for the arrears?

1. Ms Wong on privity of estate, and Mr Tan on privity of contract
2. Mr Tan alone, as Ms Wong was not a party to the original lease
3. Ms Wong alone, as Mr Tan dropped out of the lease on assigning it
4. Neither of them until the assignment is registered at SLA

The assignee, Ms Wong, is bound through privity of estate by covenants that touch and concern the land, such as the rent covenant. The original tenant, Mr Tan, remains bound by privity of contract for the whole term unless released (for example by a novation), so Mr Lim may sue either of them, though he cannot recover the same arrears twice. A 5-year lease is not a registrable lease in any case: registration concerns terms exceeding 7 years (Land Titles Act 1993, s.87).

10. Because a lease is both a contract and the grant of an estate in land, which statement about it is correct?

1. The tenant's rights are purely personal and end when the land is sold
2. Contract law stops applying once the tenant has moved into the premises
3. Contract remedies like damages coexist with proprietary rights in land
4. The lease binds the parties once the land authority has approved it

The contractual side of a lease gives contractual remedies (damages, and termination for serious breach), while the proprietary side gives the tenant an estate that binds successors and possessory rights over the premises; the two operate together throughout the term. A private tenancy binds the parties from its grant without any approval by a land authority (HDB's approval to rent out a flat, mentioned in the HDB template cl. 1.2, is a separate regulatory requirement).

11. In the recommended private residential tenancy template, where the landlord is a company, the expression 'the Landlord' is defined to include which persons?

1. Its directors and the shareholders who own it
2. Its mortgagee bank and any receiver it names
3. Its estate agent and the agent's salespersons
4. Its successors-in-title and its assigns

Clause 21.1 of the Operative Part defines 'the Landlord', where it is a company, to include its successors-in-title and assigns (and, where it is a natural person, his personal representatives and assigns). This reflects the proprietary side of the dual relationship: the benefit and burden of the covenants pass to whoever later holds the reversion, not to the company's officers, members or agents.

12. Which statement best describes a fixed-term lease?

1. It runs from period to period until either party gives due notice
2. It can be ended by the landlord at any time and for any reason
3. It arises when a tenant holds over without the landlord's assent
4. It has a certain start and end date and expires without any notice

A fixed-term lease is granted for a certain period (e.g. 2 years from 1 March 2027) and ends automatically by effluxion of time, without notice, unless it contains a break clause. The other options describe a periodic tenancy, a tenancy at will and a tenancy at sufferance respectively. Item 7 of the private template fixes the term by a commencement date and an expiry date, and the Land Titles Act 1993, s.92(1)(a), refers to determination 'by effluxion of time'.

13. Which statement best describes a periodic tenancy, such as a month-to-month tenancy?

1. It ends automatically on a date fixed in the tenancy agreement
2. It continues from period to period until ended by proper notice
3. It requires registration with SLA before it can bind the parties
4. It is personal and ends whenever either party simply says so

A periodic tenancy runs for a period (week, month or year) and continues for successive periods until either party gives a proper notice to quit; it has no fixed end date. Registration under the Land Titles Act 1993 concerns leases exceeding 7 years (s.87), and s.87(5) leaves tenancies of 7 years or less to the general law. A tenancy that ends at the mere wish of either party is a tenancy at will.

14. Mr Rajesh Kumar's 2-year fixed-term tenancy of a condominium unit expired on 30 June. No renewal was signed. He stayed on, and the landlord accepted his usual monthly rent for July, August and September without comment. What has most likely arisen between them?

1. A licence, as an expired lease cannot be revived by paying further rent
2. A tenancy at sufferance, as no new written agreement was signed by them
3. A fresh 2-year fixed term on exactly the same terms as the expired one
4. A monthly periodic tenancy, implied from rent paid and accepted monthly

When a tenant holds over with the landlord's consent and rent is paid and accepted by reference to a monthly period, the law ordinarily implies a periodic tenancy for that period (here monthly) on the old terms so far as they are consistent. A tenancy at sufferance exists only while the landlord has neither assented nor dissented; accepting rent as rent shows assent. No new fixed term arises without agreement.

15. A tenant whose fixed term has expired stays on in the premises without the landlord either agreeing or objecting, and no rent has been accepted. What is this arrangement called?

1. A fixed-term tenancy, extended by law for the same length of time
2. A periodic tenancy, created by the tenant staying on after expiry
3. A tenancy at sufferance, with no assent or dissent from the landlord
4. A tenancy at will, created by express agreement between the parties

A tenancy at sufferance arises where a tenant whose lease has ended holds over without the landlord's assent or dissent. It is not a true tenancy: the landlord may recover possession at any time and is entitled to compensation for use and occupation. If the landlord accepts rent as rent, a periodic tenancy may be implied instead; nothing extends a fixed term automatically.

16. Which statement about a tenancy at will is correct?

1. It runs for a fixed term and may be ended early for breach of covenant
2. Either party may end it at any time, and it ends if either party dies
3. It needs a deed and registration before it can bind the landlord
4. It becomes a 7-year lease once it has continued for 12 months

A tenancy at will exists at the will of both parties: either may end it at any time, and it also ends on the death of either party or on an act inconsistent with it (such as the tenant purporting to assign). It has no fixed term, needs no deed or registration (registration concerns leases exceeding 7 years: Land Titles Act 1993, s.87) and does not turn into a long lease by lapse of time.

17. Ms Priya Menon and a landlord are still negotiating the rent and length of a tenancy of a terrace house. To help her, the landlord lets her move in at once while the terms are being agreed. No rent or term has yet been fixed. Which classification best fits her occupation for now?

1. A tenancy at sufferance, since no tenancy agreement has been signed
2. A tenancy at will, since she occupies with consent while terms are pending
3. A fixed-term tenancy, for the period proposed in the landlord's draft
4. A yearly periodic tenancy, implied from the fact that she moved in

Occupation with the owner's consent while terms are still being negotiated, with no rent or term yet fixed, is the classic example of a tenancy at will: either party may end it at any time. It is not a tenancy at sufferance, which concerns a former tenant holding over without assent or dissent, and no periodic or fixed term can be implied until rent or a term is agreed.

18. Since his fixed term expired, Mr Oliver Brown has rented a condominium unit as a monthly periodic tenant, paying rent on the 1st of each month for the calendar month ahead. Nothing was agreed about notice. On 15 July the landlord serves written notice requiring him to leave by 31 July. Is the notice effective at common law?

1. Yes; a periodic tenant can be told to leave at any time on reasonable notice
2. Yes; 14 days' written notice is enough to end any residential tenancy
3. No; a periodic tenancy ends when the tenant chooses to move out of the unit
4. No; it must give a full month and expire at the end of a monthly period

A periodic tenancy continues until ended by a proper notice to quit. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the notice for a monthly tenancy must be at least one full period long and expire at the end of a period of the tenancy, so a notice served on 15 July can end the tenancy on 31 August at the earliest (recalculated). Ending it 'at any time' describes a tenancy at will, and either party, not only the tenant, may give notice to quit.

19. A tenant has breached his covenant to keep the interior of a rented house in good repair; the rent is fully paid. The lease reserves a right of re-entry for breach. Under the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1886, what must the landlord do before that right of re-entry can be enforced?

1. Obtain a writ of distress over the tenant's goods to cover the repair costs
2. Lodge a caveat with SLA recording the breach against the tenant's lease
3. Serve a notice specifying the breach and requiring remedy and compensation
4. Wait for the term to expire, as no lease may be forfeited during its term

Section 18(1) makes a right of re-entry or forfeiture for breach of covenant unenforceable unless the lessor serves a notice specifying the breach, requiring it to be remedied if it can be and requiring compensation, and the lessee fails to comply within a reasonable time; the lessee may then apply to the court for relief (s.18(2)-(3)). The section does not govern non-payment of rent (s.18(9)) or covenants against assigning or subletting (s.18(8)). Distress lies only for rent (Distress Act 1934, s.5(1)).

20. Under the recommended HDB flat tenancy template, what happens to the tenancy agreement if HDB revokes or withdraws its consent to the rental of the flat?

1. It continues as a licence until the tenant finds another flat to rent
2. It terminates automatically, without prejudice to rights for prior breaches
3. It continues to the end of the term, with the rent then paid over to HDB
4. It is suspended, with no rent payable until HDB restores its consent

Clause 8.2(b) of the HDB template provides that the agreement is automatically terminated if HDB revokes or withdraws its consent to the rental, without prejudice to the parties' rights for any antecedent breach. The flat is rented out only under HDB's approval and HDB's Terms & Conditions of Flat Rental (cl. 1.2), and the agreement is subject to HDB's prevailing policies on renting out flats (cl. 12.3).

21. Under the Land Titles Act 1993, which set of conditions must be met before the Registrar may register a lease of registered land?

1. Over 7 years, certain start and maximum duration, exclusive possession
2. Term over 3 years, a certain start date, and stamping within 14 days
3. Term over 7 years, a fixed monthly rent, and the written consent of HDB
4. Any term, a security deposit, and approval by the CEA-licensed agent

Section 87(2) provides that the Registrar must not register a lease unless (a) the term is expressed to exceed 7 years, (b) the date of commencement and the maximum duration are certain, and (c) the lease purports to confer exclusive possession. The amount of rent, HDB consent, a deposit and the involvement of an estate agent are not registration conditions under the Act; stamping is a separate stamp duty matter.

22. Ms Zainab Ali's 3-year lease of an office unit forbids assignment without the landlord's consent and says nothing about any payment for that consent. She asks to assign the lease to the buyer of her business. The landlord agrees, but demands S$10,000 for giving his consent, plus his solicitor's reasonable fees for approving the documents. Under the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1886, what may he require?

1. Neither sum, since a landlord must bear every cost of giving consent
2. Only his reasonable legal expenses, and not the S$10,000 for consent
3. Just the S$10,000, since legal costs are a matter for the assignee
4. Both sums, since he may set any price for agreeing to the assignment

Section 17(1) deems every covenant against assigning, underletting or parting with possession without consent to be subject to a proviso that no fine or sum in the nature of a fine is payable for the consent, unless the lease expressly provides otherwise. The same proviso still allows the landlord to require a reasonable sum for legal or other expenses incurred in relation to the consent, so he may recover his solicitor's reasonable fees but not the S$10,000.

23. A shop lease on registered land is granted for 9 years, but the landlord may end it early on 6 months' notice if the building is sold en bloc. The tenant's solicitor considers whether this early-termination right affects the lease's registrability. Under the Land Titles Act 1993, what is the position?

1. It does not; but the en-bloc clause is deleted from the lease on registration
2. It does; the term becomes uncertain, so the lease cannot be registered at all
3. It does; the lease must be cut to 7 years or less before it can be registered
4. It does not; an event-based right to end early is ignored in fixing the term

Under s.87(3)(b), the fact that a lease for a specified period is determinable on the happening of an event within that period is not taken into account in determining its term. The lease is therefore treated as a 9-year lease exceeding 7 years and remains registrable. The Registrar does not strike out such a clause; an en-bloc termination clause of this kind also appears in the private residential template (cl. 10.1).

24. Mr Benjamin Seah owns a registered function hall. He grants a dance school a 10-year lease of the hall, giving the school exclusive possession every Saturday and Sunday only. The school's solicitor wants the lease registered under the Land Titles Act 1993. What is the position?

1. It cannot be registered, as a lease must give possession on every day
2. It can be registered; non-continuous possession does not by itself bar it
3. It can be registered, but not until the school has used it for 7 years
4. It cannot be registered, as use at weekends makes it a licence by law

Section 87(4) provides that a lease is not unregistrable by reason only of the fact that the lessee's possession is expressed to be non-continuous. The other conditions of s.87(2) are met: the term exceeds 7 years, its commencement and maximum duration are certain, and the lease confers exclusive possession on the days concerned, so it is not a licence. Nothing requires a period of use before registration.

25. Ms Nurul Huda occupies a shophouse under an unregistered 3-year tenancy that gives her an option to renew for another 5 years. No caveat was lodged. The owner sells the shophouse, and the buyer is registered as proprietor and asks her to leave. Can she rely on the overriding protection for short tenancies in the Land Titles Act 1993?

1. No; the overriding protection applies to HDB flats and not to shops
2. Yes; each of the two separate terms is no longer than 7 years on its own
3. Yes; she was in actual occupation of the shophouse when it was sold
4. No; with the option her tenancy could run 8 years, beyond the limit

Section 46(1)(h) protects an occupying tenant where the tenancy does not exceed 7 years and could not have been extended by an option of renewal to exceed an aggregate of 7 years. Here 3 + 5 = 8 years (recalculated), so the protection is lost even though she is in occupation. She should have protected her interest, e.g. by registering the lease (registrable because its term may exceed 7 years: s.87(3)(a)) or by lodging a caveat (s.115).

26. A 10-year lease of registered land is signed by both parties and stamped, but it is never registered. What is its effect under the Land Titles Act 1993?

1. It is void, and the tenant must leave the land on demand
2. It binds all later buyers because it has been duly stamped
3. It passes no legal estate but can still operate as a contract
4. It becomes a registered lease automatically after 7 years

Section 45(1) provides that no instrument is effectual to pass an estate or interest in land under the Act until it is registered, but s.45(3) states that nothing prevents an unregistered instrument from operating as a contract. The tenant may protect the interest by lodging a caveat (s.115). Stamping is a tax requirement and does not replace registration, and nothing converts the lease into a registered one by lapse of time.

27. Which of the following lettings fails the requirement that the duration of a lease be certain?

1. A letting for 2 years beginning on 1 March 2027, rent paid monthly
2. A letting for 30 years with an option to renew for a further 10 years
3. A letting from month to month, with rent due on the 1st of each month
4. A letting 'until the landlord's son returns from his studies abroad'

A lease must have a certain beginning and a maximum duration that is certain or ascertainable at the outset; the Land Titles Act 1993, s.87(2)(b), applies the same requirement to registrable leases ('the date of commencement of the term and its maximum duration are certain'). A letting until an uncertain future event fails this test. A fixed 2-year term, a periodic tenancy (each period being certain) and a long lease with an option to renew all satisfy it.

28. Before a tenant signs a tenancy agreement for a private home, which check most directly confirms that the prospective landlord is entitled to grant the tenancy?

1. Verify ownership of the property in SLA's land records
2. Verify the property's annual value on the IRAS notice
3. Verify the landlord's name on CEA's public register of agents
4. Verify the landlord's CPF balance with the CPF Board

The DPTWG checklist for tenants of private residential property requires the tenant (or the tenant's agent) to verify the landlord's name and the property ownership, using SLA's land information service, before signing. A tenancy must be granted by the owner or by someone with the owner's authority (such as a head tenant permitted to sublet). CPF balances and annual value are irrelevant, and the CEA public register is used to check property agents, not landlords.

29. Ms Aisha Rahman and Ms Bella Fernandez together rent a condominium unit on the recommended private residential template at S$4,000 a month, both signing as 'the Tenant'. They agree between themselves to pay S$2,000 each. After six months Ms Bella moves out and stops paying, while Ms Aisha stays on. The landlord demands the full S$4,000 from Ms Aisha. Which statement is correct?

1. She owes the full rent, as co-tenants' covenants are joint and several
2. She owes nothing until the landlord has first sued Ms Bella for her half
3. She owes nothing more, as Ms Bella's departure ended the whole tenancy
4. She owes just her S$2,000 share, as the two tenants agreed between them

Clause 21.3 provides that where the Tenant consists of two or more persons, all covenants are made jointly and severally, so the landlord may recover the whole rent from either of them. The private arrangement to split the rent binds only the two tenants: Ms Aisha may claim contribution from Ms Bella. One co-tenant moving out does not end the tenancy, and the landlord need not sue Ms Bella first.

30. A landlord sues to forfeit a shop lease solely for non-payment of rent. Within the time allowed for acknowledging service of the writ, the tenant pays into court all the rent in arrear and the costs of the action. Under the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1886, what is the effect?

1. The action ceases, and the tenant keeps the lease without any new lease
2. The lease stays forfeited, but the landlord must refund the sums paid in
3. The lease ends, and the tenant becomes a monthly tenant on the old terms
4. The action continues, and the court decides whether to grant a new lease

Section 18A(2) provides that if, within the time for acknowledging service of the writ, the lessee pays into court all the rent in arrear and the costs of the action, the action ceases and the lessee holds the land according to the lease without any new lease. This shortcut does not apply where the landlord also relies on another ground or makes another claim (s.18A(6)); later payment may still earn relief at trial (s.18A(3), (5)).

31. Mr Ho holds a 3-year lease of an apartment, with 2 years left. Which of the following dealings is a sublease rather than an assignment, a novation or a surrender?

1. He lets the apartment to Ms Lee for 1 year while keeping his own lease
2. He, Ms Lee and the landlord agree that Ms Lee replaces him as tenant
3. He gives the lease back to the landlord, who then lets it to Ms Lee
4. He transfers his whole remaining term to Ms Lee with written consent

A sublease is a new, shorter lease carved out of the tenant's own term: Mr Ho keeps his lease and becomes Ms Lee's landlord. Transferring the whole remaining term is an assignment, a tripartite agreement substituting Ms Lee as tenant is a novation, and giving the lease back to the landlord is a surrender. The Land Titles Act 1993, s.86(1), treats 'lease' as including a sublease but does not authorise breach of a covenant against subletting.

32. What is the main legal effect of a novation of a tenancy agreement between the landlord, the outgoing tenant and an incoming tenant?

1. The outgoing tenant stays liable as a guarantor for the incoming tenant
2. The incoming tenant becomes a subtenant of the outgoing tenant for the term
3. The landlord's reversion passes to the incoming tenant by way of a deed
4. The outgoing tenant is released and the incoming tenant contracts afresh

A novation replaces the original contract with a new one: with all three parties' agreement, the outgoing tenant is released and the incoming tenant becomes the landlord's contracting party. This is how an outgoing tenant escapes the privity of contract that survives an ordinary assignment. IRAS treats the 'novation of lease between an incoming tenant and outgoing tenant' as a transaction of its own for stamp duty purposes.

33. Ms Wong Mei Ling rents a condominium unit under the recommended private residential tenancy template. Without asking her landlord, she sublets one bedroom to a friend for 6 months to share costs. The landlord finds out. Which statement is correct?

1. Her tenancy passes to the friend, who becomes liable for the whole rent
2. She breaches her covenant and remains liable for the full rent
3. The landlord must now accept the friend as his direct tenant of the room
4. There is no breach, as letting one bedroom is not letting the premises

Clause 5.1(d) of the template prohibits the tenant from assigning, subletting or parting with possession of the premises 'or any part thereof' without the landlord's written consent. Subletting a bedroom without consent is therefore a breach, which may entitle the landlord to terminate under cl. 7.1(b) if it is not remedied within 14 days of written notice. A sublease never transfers the tenant's own lease, so Ms Wong stays liable for the rent, and the friend has no direct relationship with the landlord.

34. A head landlord wishes to sue a subtenant directly for breach of the repairing covenant contained in the head lease. What is the general position?

1. He may, as the subtenant has privity of estate with the head landlord
2. He may, as a subtenant is bound by every covenant in the head lease
3. He generally cannot, as there is no privity of contract or of estate
4. He generally cannot, until the sublease has been registered with SLA

A subtenant holds a lease granted by the tenant, not by the head landlord, so there is no privity of contract (they made no contract) and no privity of estate (they do not hold under the same lease) between them. The head landlord's remedies lie against his own tenant, who remains answerable under the head lease for breaches committed by the subtenant. Registering the sublease would not create privity with the head landlord.

35. Under the recommended private residential tenancy template, how is an individual tenant's wish to assign or sublet the premises treated?

1. It needs written consent, not unreasonably withheld for a responsible tenant
2. It needs no consent where the subtenant is a Singapore Citizen with a valid NRIC
3. It needs written consent, which the landlord may refuse for any reason
4. It needs no consent where the subletting lasts for under three months

Clause 5.1(d) prohibits assigning, subletting or parting with possession without the landlord's written consent, 'which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld in the case of a respectable and responsible tenant'; where the tenant is a company, there is no right to sublet unless the landlord agrees. Neither the subtenant's citizenship nor a short duration removes the need for consent.