Tenant Refuses to Move Out After the Lease Ends: What Can a Singapore Landlord Do?

The lease ended on Saturday. The keys did not come back, and the incoming tenant moves in three weeks. This is where landlords make the one mistake that turns a straightforward holding-over claim into a lawsuit against themselves: they change the locks. Here is the route Singapore law gives you, what it costs, and what the delay does to your reinstatement window.

What counts as a tenant refusing to move out?

The label decides your remedies. A tenant in breach during the term, through unpaid rent or unauthorised subletting, is handled by forfeiture and re-entry under the tenancy agreement. A tenant still in place after the term has run out is a holding-over case, and the statutory double rent remedy applies. Our guide to holding over and double rent covers the tenant's side.

Tenancy disputes are common enough to be measured. The Ministry of Law told Parliament that an average of 10,414 cases a year were filed at the Small Claims Tribunals between 2016 and 2018, and about nine per cent of them were tenancy-related, roughly 940 claims a year in that period, before counting everything filed in the State Courts.

Can I change the locks, cut the power, or move their things out?

This is the most expensive error in the process. It converts a case you would almost certainly win into a two-sided dispute where your own conduct is in issue, and it ends any hope of a clean deduction from the deposit.

Belongings left behind are their own question, with their own rules about storage and disposal. Do not dump them. See what to do when a tenant leaves belongings behind before touching anything.

How much can I charge for every extra day?

The option is yours to exercise, so say in writing that you are charging double rent from the day after expiry. You do not have to prove the tenant was being deliberately obstructive: holding over is enough.

Calculated as twice the daily rent on a 365-day year, rounded to the dollar. The deposit is usually one to two months, so a stubborn holding-over case can exhaust it in four to eight weeks before any reinstatement cost is counted.

Can the Small Claims Tribunals order the tenant out?

The Tribunal's other limits matter too. The claim cap is S$20,000, or S$30,000 if both sides sign a memorandum of consent, the filing fee runs from about S$10, and you must file within two years of the cause of action. Commercial and industrial premises are excluded entirely. For the money side of a dispute, our guide to deposit disputes and the Small Claims Tribunals sets out the process.

So the common case, a paid-up tenant who has overstayed, goes to the State Courts: a Magistrate's Court for claims up to S$60,000, a District Court up to S$250,000.

What does the court route cost?

These are the published State Courts figures for filing a writ of possession. Legal costs sit on top: practitioners commonly quote five figures for a contested claim taken through judgment and enforcement.

What are the steps, and how long do they take?

1. Written demand. State that the term has ended, that you require vacant possession by a specific date, and that double rent is being charged from the day after expiry.
2. Start the claim. File an originating claim in the State Courts for possession and for the double rent and any arrears.
3. Get the order. Judgment may come by default if the tenant does not respond, which is the fastest realistic path.
4. Apply for permission. File an ex parte summons (Form 86) with a supporting affidavit showing that the tenants and occupiers were notified.
5. File the writ. Forms 85 and 87 through eLitigation, then take an execution appointment.
6. Attend on execution day. The bailiff issues a notice of eviction and takes possession; you must attend, with a locksmith and movers arranged.

Every step runs on court time, not yours, which is why a back-to-back tenancy is the thing most likely to break. Tell the incoming tenant early rather than promising a date the bailiff controls.

What if there is a subtenant or an extra occupier in the unit?

Your affidavit for permission to issue the writ must account for everyone in occupation, not just whoever signed the lease. A missed occupier is the commonest reason an execution date is wasted. Unauthorised subletting is usually a breach in its own right; see the tenancy clauses that actually matter.

What does the delay cost beyond the rent?

Build the double rent claim and the reinstatement plan together. Once a lease-end date looks uncertain, work the 30-day countdown backwards from the date you will realistically hold the keys. If a sale is in play, vacant possession is the standard the buyer will hold you to.

How do you stop this happening at all?

1. Write at week six with the end date, the handover time, and the condition you expect.
2. Book the pre-handover inspection for about two weeks before expiry, so reinstatement is scoped while the tenant is still there.
3. Put the double rent clause in the lease and reference section 28(4), so nobody is surprised by it.
4. Agree any extension in writing with a rent figure and an end date. A verbal "a few more days" is how disputes start.
5. Keep the deposit separate from the holding-over claim. Deductions still have to be itemised and justified; see who actually decides a deposit dispute.