Guest writer – James Chua, Co-Founder of MetroResidences.

“A busy man who works long hours appreciates good-service more than an idle man”   

Corporate Housing is not for everyone, it is for the busy person with less leisure time, with less margin for error, with less support infrastructure (family) and who has fewer days to spare in Singapore.

Corporate Housing is a more efficient solution for a tenant staying for a duration of 1 to 6 months. It does not require the tenant to get involved in the maintenance and Housekeeping aspects. Traditional residential leases work better for those who are staying for 1 to 2 years and are willing to put in hands-on effort in the daily upkeep of the apartment.  

A corporate apartment is a ready-to-move-into apartment. It comes with furniture, cookware, linens, towels and is supported by a professional-housekeeper and maintenance team. A traditional apartment lease typically comes without furniture, requires some amount of fixing-up before the move in and in general requires the tenant to purchase all or some of the furniture.

Since not everyone visiting Singapore for work would have the capacity or interest to set up a new home from scratch, it makes settling into the new home a lot easier. 

In a traditional lease, the renter is typically dealing with the landlord when negotiating the terms of the rental prior to the move in. After the move-in, the landlord continues to be the negotiating party for maintenance issues. Dealing with the individual landlord directly frequently leads to unpleasant exchanges because landlords come from a “house-proud” perspective looking at things from too personal a lens. Tenant’s come more from an efficiency angle where they would like to simply get things fixed.

• Use a corporate apartment for 1 to 6-month stays
• Use a traditional lease for 1 to 2-year stays
• A corporate apartment does not require the tenant to purchase any furniture, perform maintenance tasks and do housekeeping.
• A traditional lease may require the tenant to navigate the landlord negotiation delicately

If a tenant is staying for over a year, has more time to spare in setting up and managing the home, look for a traditional lease. If the time and efficiency is of the essence, look for a corporate lease.