Landlord and tenant law: RES practice questions

The clause allocates the stamp-duty expense to the landlord. Section 34 of the Stamp Duties Act expressly introduces its default allocation with 'In the absence of an agreement to the contrary'. CEA's template likewise leaves the paying party in its stamp-fee covenant for the parties to specify. Their express choice therefore governs the cost allocation between them. Choosing who bears the expense does not create a tax exemption, an equal-sharing rule or a change to the amount of duty. This question does not determine the revenue authority's enforcement rights or the stamping deadline.

The express clause makes the tenant responsible for the first S$180 even when the repair costs more. The landlord pays the excess: S$460 minus S$180 equals S$280. This is an application of the parties' stipulated covenant, not a statutory S$180 repair limit. CEA's recommended template uses this type of allocation but leaves the amount to agreement.

Section 53(1) excludes a lease for a period not exceeding seven years at a rack rent from its general requirement for a conveyance by deed in the English language. The stated six-year term, without an extension, and the stipulated rack rent meet that limited exception. The exception is not confined to rent-free grants and does not mean that requirements imposed by other provisions, or requirements for a binding agreement, disappear. The question deliberately isolates the need for a deed under section 53 rather than declaring the proposed transaction valid in every respect.

The option identifies one defined further term and has been validly exercised. The operative renewed tenancy therefore has the stated commencement and expiry dates, rather than an arrangement recurring automatically from period to period. Hoon Kee Meng v Dash Living expressly recognises a renewal for a fixed period and gives effect to a validly exercised renewal right. Renewal describes how the further term is obtained; it does not, by itself, classify the duration as periodic. The facts also exclude both an unexercised option and uncertainty over the renewal dates.

Paragraph 29.3.3 explains that smaller estates can be carved out of larger estates and gives the example of a fee simple owner granting a lease. Paragraph 29.4.1 describes the resulting tenant's estate and its rights of possession and use. The grant of that limited estate is not a transfer of the fee simple, which the facts expressly exclude. Nor does it extinguish the owner's larger estate or create co-ownership in equal shares. The two parties have different estates connected by the lease, not identical shares in one fee simple estate.