Summary
Moving into a typical Singapore condo can cost over $10,800 upfront, largely due to a hefty security deposit (e.g., $7,000 on a $3,500/month rental).
A rental deposit installment plan is a financial product that pays this deposit for you, allowing you to repay it in small monthly installments over your lease.
The landlord receives the full deposit on Day 1, so their approval is not needed, making the process seamless.
Instead of paying a large lump sum, Rently's Lower Move-In Costs service splits your deposit into small monthly payments, drastically reducing your upfront cash needs.
You've signed your tenancy agreement. You're excited. Then the numbers hit you all at once.
A typical two-year lease in Singapore requires a security deposit equal to two months' rent. On a $3,500/month condo, that's $7,000 sitting in your landlord's account before you've even bought a single piece of furniture. Add one month's advance rent ($3,500) and stamp duty (~$300), and your total move-in bill lands at roughly $10,800 — before the movers even show up.
For most people, that's not just a large number. It's savings they were supposed to use for something else — a BTO downpayment, relocation costs, a new laptop for the home office, or simply a financial buffer for the unexpected.
Here's what most Singapore tenants don't know: you don't have to pay that deposit in one shot. There's a product specifically designed to let you spread it out as monthly installments — and your landlord receives the full amount on Day 1, just as they expect. This is called a rental deposit installment plan, and in Singapore, Rently is the fintech company making it available to residents.
This article explains exactly how it works, what it costs, who qualifies, and whether it makes sense for your situation.
What Is a Rental Deposit Installment Plan?
A rental deposit installment plan is a financial arrangement where a third party pays your full security deposit to your landlord upfront, and you repay that amount in small monthly installments over the course of your lease.
Think of it as deposit financing — similar in concept to how you might finance a laptop or appliance, but built specifically for the Singapore rental market.
Here's the key mechanic that makes it work for landlords:
The landlord receives 100% of the deposit on Day 1 — via FAST bank transfer, immediately and securely.
The tenant owes nothing to the landlord beyond what the tenancy agreement states.
The monthly repayments go to the fintech provider (Rently), not the landlord.
The landlord gets full protection. You get breathing room. No one needs to negotiate or get creative with the tenancy agreement.
How Rently's Lower Move-In Costs Product Works
Rently's Lower Move-In Costs product is Singapore's dedicated solution for this. Here's how the process works, step by step:
Step 1: Apply via Rently + Singpass Head to rently.sg and begin your application. The process takes approximately 10 minutes. Identity verification is done through Singpass, so there are no lengthy forms or document uploads — your identity and residency status are confirmed digitally.
Step 2: Rently Pays the Deposit to Your Landlord Upon approval, Rently transfers the full security deposit directly to your landlord via FAST transfer. Your landlord receives the money as they normally would. Importantly, no landlord approval or sign-off is needed — the deposit lands in their account just like any standard bank transfer. They may never know that an installment arrangement is involved.
Step 3: You Repay Rently Monthly Starting from the beginning of your lease, you make a fixed monthly payment to Rently for the duration of your tenancy. The repayments are predictable, budgetable, and tied to your lease term.
The Numbers in Practice:
ItemTraditional MethodWith RentlySecurity Deposit ($3,500/month × 2)$7,000 upfront$0 upfrontMonthly repayment to Rently—$84/monthAdvance Rent$3,500$3,500Stamp Duty~$300~$300Total Day-1 Cash Required~$10,800~$3,800
For a $7,000 deposit on a 24-month lease, the monthly repayment works out to $84/month — because Rently charges $12/month per $1,000 of deposit. That's it. No variable rates, no hidden charges.
Why Don't Banks Offer Rental Deposit Loans?
This is a fair question. If the need is this obvious, why isn't your bank already offering it?
The short answer: banks don't find it commercially worthwhile. Rental deposit financing involves relatively small sums (typically $2,000–$10,000), short durations (12–24 months), and no collateral. From a traditional lending perspective, the administrative overhead of underwriting, disbursing, and managing such loans isn't worth the margin. As OCBC explains in their guide on Banker's Guarantees, the closest banking equivalent to deposit financing — a banker's guarantee — is typically structured for commercial tenancies and involves significantly more paperwork and fees.
Rently fills this gap as a purpose-built fintech. By using Singpass for KYC verification and FAST for disbursements, they've made the process fast and lean enough to serve individual residential tenants — a segment banks have structurally ignored.
Who Qualifies?
Eligibility is straightforward. You need to be:
A Singapore resident — this includes Citizens, Permanent Residents, and valid pass holders (e.g., Employment Pass, S Pass, Dependent Pass).
Renting a residential property — the service is for residential tenancies only, not commercial leases.
Able to verify your identity via Singpass.
In possession of a valid Tenancy Agreement.
If you check those boxes, you can apply. Head to Rently's FAQ for the most up-to-date eligibility details.
What Does It Actually Cost? Let's Be Direct.
Transparency matters — especially when real tenants on forums like Reddit's r/askSingapore have raised questions about the total cost of the service. So let's lay it out plainly.
Rently's pricing: $12/month per $1,000 of security deposit.
Using the $7,000 deposit example:
Monthly repayment: ($7,000 ÷ $1,000) × $12 = $84/month
Total cost over 24 months: $84 × 24 = $2,016
So the honest framing is this: using Rently costs you $2,016 over two years in exchange for not locking up $7,000 upfront.
Whether that's worth it depends on what $7,000 means to you right now.
If that $7,000 is sitting in a savings account earning minimal interest, the cost of keeping it liquid is real but modest — you're effectively paying for the convenience of cash flow flexibility. If that $7,000 is earmarked for your BTO downpayment, a renovation fund, or emergency savings you can't afford to park with a landlord for two years, then the calculus shifts meaningfully in Rently's favour.
It's not a free service — no financial product is. But it's a transparent, fixed-cost one.
When Does a Rental Deposit Installment Plan Make Sense?
Not every tenant needs this. But for several common Singapore situations, it makes a lot of sense.
BTO-Waiting Couples You're renting in the interim while your BTO flat is under construction — a period that can stretch 3–5 years. Every dollar you preserve now is a dollar available for your downpayment, renovation, or furniture. Locking $7,000 in a deposit for the next two years is a real opportunity cost. A rental deposit installment plan in Singapore like Rently's lets you keep that cash working for your actual goal: homeownership.
Young Singles Moving Out for the First Time Your savings are limited, and the move-in bill is brutal. Paying $10,800+ upfront when you're setting up a home for the first time — buying furniture, appliances, and all the essentials — can stretch you dangerously thin. Spreading the deposit into $84/month buys you the breathing room to set up your home properly without going into credit card debt.
Expats Relocating to Singapore The first few months in Singapore are expensive: flights, temporary accommodation, setting up a local bank account, international wire transfers with poor exchange rates. Reducing your Day-1 cash requirement from ~$10,800 to ~$3,800 gives you meaningful financial flexibility during the most cash-intensive phase of your relocation.
Property Upgraders and Transitioners Selling your current home and renting temporarily before your next purchase? Your capital needs to stay liquid for the next downpayment. Having $7,000 frozen in a rental deposit during this transitional period is avoidable — and Rently lets you avoid it.
A Note on Deposit Disputes
Some tenants considering Rently have raised a valid concern on community forums: what happens to the deposit if there's a dispute with the landlord at the end of the lease? One of the most common fears, highlighted on community forums, is that many renters in Singapore have unjustly lost money to a landlord — often over ambiguous "wear and tear" claims.
It's worth clarifying how this works with Rently. Your tenancy agreement and your legal rights as a tenant remain unchanged. Rently has stated that if a landlord attempts to claim the deposit for standard wear and tear — rather than actual damage — they will advocate on the tenant's behalf, including taking the matter to court if necessary. Their service also bundles in insurance for both parties.
This doesn't mean disputes become painless. But it does mean you're not navigating them alone, which is more than most tenants have when dealing with a difficult landlord. You can read real user experiences at Rently's stories page.
Ready to Lower Your Move-In Costs?
If you're about to sign a lease in Singapore and the upfront deposit is putting pressure on your cash flow, a rental deposit installment plan is worth considering. Rently is the only Singapore-specific product built for exactly this purpose — designed for residents, verified through Singpass, and built around the local rental market.
The math is simple. The process takes about 10 minutes. And your landlord gets their full deposit on Day 1, no questions asked.
FAQ
How can I reduce the upfront cost of renting in Singapore?
You can significantly reduce your upfront rental cost by using a rental deposit installment plan. This service pays your full security deposit to the landlord on Day 1, allowing you to repay the amount in small monthly installments instead of a large lump sum. For a typical condo rental requiring a $7,000 security deposit, a service like Rently eliminates that upfront payment, lowering your total move-in cash outlay from over $10,000 to under $4,000.
Does my landlord need to approve my use of Rently?
No, your landlord's approval is not required to use Rently. Rently pays the full security deposit directly to your landlord's bank account via a standard FAST transfer, just as you would. The arrangement is between you and Rently. From your landlord's perspective, they receive the complete deposit amount on time and in full, so they often don't even need to know a third party is involved.
Who is eligible to use a rental deposit installment plan in Singapore?
You are eligible if you are a Singapore resident (Citizen, PR, or a valid pass holder like an EP or S Pass) with a valid Tenancy Agreement for a residential property. You must also be able to verify your identity using Singpass. The service is designed for the broad residential rental market in Singapore, including both HDB and private property leases.
How much does Rently's deposit installment plan cost?
Rently charges a fixed fee of $12 per month for every $1,000 of your security deposit. There are no variable interest rates or hidden charges. For example, on a $7,000 security deposit, the monthly fee is calculated as (7 x $12) = $84. Over a 24-month lease, the total cost would be $2,016. This is the cost of freeing up $7,000 of your cash for two years.
What happens to my security deposit at the end of the lease?
At the end of your lease, the deposit return process works just like a traditional rental. Your landlord refunds the deposit directly to Rently. If there are no damages, your installment plan simply concludes. If the landlord makes fair deductions for damages (beyond normal wear and tear), you would be responsible for covering that amount. Rently also provides support and will advocate on your behalf if you face an unfair claim from your landlord.
Is Rently a personal loan?
While it functions like a form of financing, Rently's rental deposit installment plan is a specialized product, not a conventional personal loan. It is purpose-built for rental deposits with a fixed-fee structure rather than an interest rate (APR). Unlike a general-purpose personal loan, Rently pays the deposit directly to your landlord, and its application process is streamlined for tenants via Singpass.
Why can't I just get a rental deposit loan from a bank?
Banks in Singapore generally do not offer small, short-term, unsecured loans for rental deposits because the administrative costs make them commercially unviable. The closest equivalent, a Banker's Guarantee, is designed for commercial properties and is more complex. Fintechs like Rently are built to fill this specific gap by using technology to efficiently manage these transactions for individual residential tenants.