Summary
Renting a boutique co-living space like Figment in Singapore can require S$10,000 to S$16,000 in upfront cash, largely due to the security deposit of 1-2 months' rent.
This high initial cost is a major financial barrier for many, locking up thousands of dollars that could be used for other essential expenses or savings.
You can significantly reduce this upfront payment by using a service that covers the deposit for you, turning a large lump sum into a small monthly service fee.
Rently's Lower Move-In Costs service pays your full deposit on your behalf, allowing you to preserve your cash for a small monthly fee.
Living in a beautifully restored Peranakan shophouse, tucked into a tree-lined street in Joo Chiat or Tiong Bahru, with your utilities paid, WiFi sorted, and a designer-furnished room waiting for you — it's a genuinely compelling vision of life in Singapore.
That's exactly what Figment Singapore sells, and for good reason. Travel + Leisure once called their homes "the Picassos of Singapore's built heritage," and the brand has carved out a distinctive niche in the co-living market: boutique hotel-inspired spaces inside actual heritage homes, with a curated community of young professionals and expats, and locations in some of the city's most iconic neighbourhoods.
But here's the part the Instagram feed doesn't show you: before you get the keys, you'll likely need to hand over somewhere between S$10,000 and S$16,000 in upfront cash.
That's not a typo. And it's not unique to Figment — it's the financial reality of renting in Singapore. If you're an expat arriving on an Employment Pass, a young professional moving out for the first time, or a BTO-waiting couple trying to preserve your downpayment savings, that number can stop a dream in its tracks.
This guide breaks down exactly what Figment charges, how the deposit system works in Singapore, and — critically — what you can do to reduce the capital you need to hand over on day one.
What Makes Figment Worth Considering
Before we get into the numbers, it's worth understanding what you're actually paying for.
Figment's co-living spaces are not standard HDB rooms or generic serviced apartments. They operate out of conserved shophouses — two- and three-storey heritage properties that have been thoughtfully restored and furnished. Each house has a distinct character, and rooms are styled with deliberate attention to detail.
What's typically included in your monthly rent:
Utilities (electricity, water)
High-speed WiFi
Weekly cleaning
Shared common areas and amenities
Access to Figment's community events
Lease terms are also more flexible than a standard tenancy — minimum contracts often start at 3 months, which suits expats on short assignments or anyone in transition.
Monthly rents across Figment's portfolio generally range from roughly S$1,850 to S$3,300, depending on the property, room type, and lease length. Some indicative benchmarks based on their current listings:
Brick House: from S$1,850/month
Ambon House: from S$2,500/month
Vignette House: from S$2,800/month
For a fully furnished, bills-included heritage room in central Singapore, these prices are competitive. The challenge isn't the monthly rent — it's everything you have to pay before month one begins.
The Real Move-In Cost: Breaking It Down
This is where the sticker shock hits. Singapore's rental market operates on a set of financial conventions that stack up fast, and Figment is no exception.
1. First Month's Rent
You pay this upfront before or on the day you move in. At S$2,800/month, that's S$2,800 out the door on day one.
2. Security Deposit
In Singapore, the standard security deposit is:
1 month's rent for a 1-year lease
2 months' rent for a 2-year lease
This is a widely recognised norm, documented by Figment themselves in their renting guide. The deposit is held by the landlord (or co-living operator) for the duration of your tenancy and is refunded — typically within 14 days of the lease ending — subject to a final inspection. Deductions can be made for damages beyond normal wear and tear.
For a S$2,800/month room on a 1-year lease, that's another S$2,800 locked up for 12 months.
3. Agent Fees
If an agent was involved in the transaction, fees are typically half a month's rent for a 1-year lease, or a full month's rent for 2 years. In co-living arrangements this varies, but it's a cost worth factoring in.
What the Total Looks Like
Here's a realistic cost stack for a Figment unit at S$3,200/month:
First Month's Rent: S$3,200
Security Deposit (1-year lease): S$3,200
Agent Fee (est. 0.5 month): S$1,600
Total Upfront: S$8,000
Scale this to a longer lease or a higher-priced unit — or factor in any overlap with your previous tenancy — and you can see exactly how the S$10,000–S$16,000 figure materialises. As one Reddit user put it plainly: "Housing prices are crazy."
The monthly rent? Manageable. The capital required to start renting? That's a different problem entirely.
How to Reduce Your Move-In Capital Outlay
The monthly rent is something most people budget for. But freeing up S$3,000–S$6,000+ in liquid cash just to place a deposit — money that sits with the landlord for 12 to 24 months earning nothing for you — is a genuine financial pressure point. This is especially true if you're:
An expat arriving in Singapore who is simultaneously dealing with relocation costs, shipping fees, and setting up a new life from scratch
A young professional moving out for the first time without a savings buffer
A BTO-waiting couple trying to preserve every dollar for your downpayment and renovation
Someone in a property transition, needing deposit capital tied up in your old place before it's returned
There are a few strategies worth knowing:
Negotiate the deposit term. Some landlords — particularly in co-living arrangements — may be open to a shorter lease that requires only one month's deposit rather than two. It's always worth asking.
Time your move carefully. If you can overlap your old place's deposit return with your new move-in, you reduce the capital crunch. In practice, this is rarely possible to engineer perfectly.
Use a deposit replacement service. This is the most direct solution to the problem, and it's what Rently's Lower Move-In Costs product was specifically built for.
How Rently's Lower Move-In Costs Works
Rently is a Singapore-based fintech platform that acts as a financial intermediary between tenants and landlords. Its Lower Move-In Costs product works like this:
Rently pays your full security deposit directly to the landlord upfront, on day one. The landlord receives their money immediately via normal bank transfer — no approval required, no disruption to the tenancy.
You pay Rently a small monthly service fee spread over the duration of your lease, instead of handing over a lump sum. The fee is S$12 per month for every S$1,000 of deposit.
So on a S$3,200 deposit, you'd pay just S$38.40/month to Rently instead of S$3,200 upfront.
A few things worth knowing about how this works in practice:
No traditional credit check. Rently's review process looks for no major payment defaults or active bankruptcy — your credit score alone doesn't disqualify you. This matters because, as one tenant noted in a Reddit discussion, "not every credit score reflects a person's true situation."
No landlord involvement required. Figment (or any landlord) simply receives a normal bank transfer. They don't need to sign up, approve anything, or change their process.
This is a tenancy support service, not a credit product. The fee is a flat monthly amount, not a percentage-based interest charge.
Works for any residential tenancy in Singapore, not just Figment properties.
Rently has processed over S$20M in rent across Singapore, UAE, and Hong Kong since its founding in 2022. It's also the only platform in the market offering this kind of deposit replacement service — other rent payment platforms are typically payment routers and cannot take on deposit liability in this way.
Cost Comparison: Moving Into Figment With vs. Without Rently
Let's make this concrete. Here's a side-by-side breakdown for a Figment Singapore unit at S$3,200/month on a 1-year lease:
Here's this comparison in bullet points:
Without Rently
First Month's Rent: S$3,200
Security Deposit (upfront): S$3,200
Agent Fee (est. 0.5 month): S$1,600
Rently Monthly Service Fee: —
Total Upfront Cash Required: S$8,000
Immediate Cash Preserved: —
With Rently
First Month's Rent: S$3,200
Security Deposit (upfront): S$0
Agent Fee (est. 0.5 month): S$1,600
Rently Monthly Service Fee: S$38.40/month
Total Upfront Cash Required: S$4,800
Immediate Cash Preserved: S$3,200
Over a 12-month lease, the total cost of Rently's service on a S$3,200 deposit works out to S$460.80 — roughly the price of a weekend staycation. In exchange, you keep S$3,200 in your account on move-in day, available for furniture, an emergency fund, or simply not being broke in your first month.
For a higher-value unit — say, S$4,500/month on a 2-year lease with a 2-month deposit — the deposit alone would be S$9,000. Rently's monthly fee in that scenario: S$108/month. The capital you preserve on day one: S$9,000.
Final Thoughts: Figment Is Worth It — If the Numbers Work for You
Figment Singapore offers something genuinely rare in the rental market: thoughtfully designed heritage homes with community built in, flexible lease terms, and the kind of living environment that makes settling into Singapore feel like an experience rather than a transaction. Their co-living properties continue to attract expats, young professionals, and creatives for good reason.
The barrier isn't the monthly rent. It's the capital stack required before you ever unpack a box.
If that upfront figure — potentially S$10,000 or more — is what's sitting between you and the place you actually want to live, it's worth knowing that there are practical tools designed for exactly this situation. Rently's Lower Move-In Costs product lets you move into a Figment property (or any premium co-living space in Singapore) on day one, with your deposit handled and your savings intact.
You can use Rently's deposit calculator on their website to see exactly what your monthly fee would be based on your specific deposit amount — it takes about 30 seconds and gives you a clear picture of the trade-off.
Living beautifully in Singapore doesn't have to mean draining your account to get through the door.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much cash do I really need to rent a co-living space like Figment in Singapore?
You typically need between S$8,000 and S$16,000 in upfront cash to cover the first month's rent, a security deposit (equal to 1-2 months' rent), and potential agent fees. For a room costing S$3,200/month on a one-year lease, this would break down to S$3,200 for rent, S$3,200 for the security deposit, and S$1,600 in agent fees, totaling S$8,000. This large initial sum is a significant financial barrier for many renters.
Why is the security deposit for renting in Singapore so high?
The security deposit in Singapore is a market standard set at one month's rent for a one-year lease and two months' rent for a two-year lease. This is designed to protect landlords against property damage or unpaid rent. While this practice provides security for landlords, it locks up thousands of dollars of the tenant's cash for the entire lease, creating cash flow challenges for expats, young professionals, and those saving for a home.
What is Rently and how does it lower my move-in cost?
Rently is a service that pays your entire security deposit directly to your landlord on your behalf. This eliminates the need for you to pay the large lump-sum deposit yourself, which can reduce your total upfront move-in cost by 30-50%. Instead of paying the full deposit (e.g., S$3,200), you pay Rently a small monthly service fee, freeing up your cash for other essential expenses.
Is using Rently for my deposit a type of monthly payment arrangement?
Rently's service is a tenancy support service. Instead of a lump-sum deposit, you pay a flat monthly service fee over your lease — S$12 per S$1,000 of deposit per month. It charges a flat, transparent monthly fee, not a percentage-based charge. The review process is not based solely on your payment history, and the fee is a fixed, predictable amount (S$12 per S$1,000 of deposit per month). This structure is designed to be a simple way to manage cash flow when renting.
Does my landlord, like Figment, need to approve my use of Rently?
No, your landlord does not need to approve or be involved in the process. From their perspective, they receive the full security deposit via a standard bank transfer on day one, just as they normally would. The entire transaction is managed between you and Rently, ensuring there is no disruption to your tenancy agreement or your relationship with the landlord.
What happens if there are deductions from my deposit when I move out?
If your landlord makes valid deductions for damages from the security deposit at the end of your lease, Rently will invoice you for that specific amount as a one-time service charge, mirroring the standard rental process.
Can I use Rently for any rental property in Singapore, not just Figment?
Yes, Rently's Lower Move-In Costs service can be used for any residential tenancy agreement in Singapore, including co-living spaces, condominiums, and HDB apartments. The service is not exclusive to any particular operator or property type, so you can use it for nearly any home you choose to rent.