Office space for a Singapore family office: size, cost and lease terms

Singapore had more than 2,000 tax-incentivised single family offices at the end of December 2025, up from around 400 in 2020. Nearly all of them need somewhere to sit. This is what that space costs, how much you actually need, and how a Singapore office lease works — written for the person setting the office up, not for the agent leasing it.

How big is a family office, really

Smaller than most people assume. MAS figures put employment across tax-incentivised single family offices at roughly 2,200 locals, against more than 2,000 offices. The average is close to one local employee each.

The schemes set the floor. Section 13O requires at least two investment professionals, one of whom cannot be a family member. Section 13U requires three. Add a financial controller or an administrator and a working family office is usually three to six people.

So the question is not which floor of which tower. It is how to get 500 to 2,000 square feet in a building your bankers, lawyers and auditors will take seriously.

How much space you need

Singapore planners work on net usable area per person: around 80 sq ft open plan, 120 sq ft for a standard mix of desks and meeting rooms, 160 sq ft for mostly private offices, and 180 to 250 sq ft at executive grade.

Family offices sit in that last band. You are paying for private offices, a boardroom that works for a bank meeting and a reception that matches the balance sheet behind it, not for desk density.

You lease gross and occupy net. CBD buildings run at 75 to 88 per cent efficiency, so a 1,200 sq ft lease gives roughly 900 to 1,050 usable. In practice:

• Two people: about 450 to 600 sq ft
• Four people: about 900 to 1,200 sq ft
• Six people: about 1,300 to 1,800 sq ft
• Ten people: about 2,200 to 3,000 sq ft

Add 15 to 20 per cent if you expect to take on people inside a three-year term. The extra desk now is cheaper than a second unit in year two.

What Grade A space costs

Core CBD Grade A rents sat at roughly S$12.19 to S$12.50 per square foot per month through mid-2026. JLL put CBD Grade A gross effective rent at S$12.04 psf in Q1 2026, the highest since Q1 2009. URA’s series, measured differently, showed S$11.36 psf in Q1 2026, up 1.4 per cent on the quarter. Different houses measure it differently; the direction is the same.

Indicative asking rents per square foot per month, as a guide only:

• Asia Square Tower 1 — S$15.00 to S$16.00
• IOI Central Boulevard Towers — S$14.50 to S$17.00
• OUE Bayfront — S$15.00 to S$15.50
• Marina Bay Financial Centre — around S$14.50
• One Raffles Quay — S$14.00 to S$14.50
• Ocean Financial Centre — S$13.50 to S$14.50
• Marina One — S$13.00 to S$15.00
• CapitaGreen — S$13.00 to S$14.00
• Republic Plaza — S$12.00 to S$13.50
• One Raffles Place — S$11.00 to S$13.50
• UOB Plaza — S$11.00 to S$12.00
• Prudential Tower — S$9.50 to S$10.50

These are asking figures, not quotes. Landlords price unit by unit and the numbers move. We will confirm what is actually available, and at what price, in any building on this list.

Offices are usually quoted gross: base rent plus service charge in one number. A typical split is base rent of S$10.50 to S$11.00 and service charge of S$1.00 to S$1.50. The service charge normally stays payable during a rent-free fitting-out period; only base rent is waived.

The costs that are not in the asking rent

Security deposit. Three months of gross rent is standard, up to six where the tenant company is thinly capitalised, which catches many newly incorporated family office entities. A bank guarantee is usually accepted instead at around 1.5 to 2 per cent a year. Deposits typically return 30 to 60 days after the lease ends.

Fit-out. Cushman & Wakefield’s 2026 guide puts Singapore office fit-out at roughly USD 102 per sq ft for a basic workplace, SGD 180 per sq ft for a standard collaborative fit-out, and around USD 212 per sq ft at the advanced end. Singapore carries the highest fit-out costs in Southeast Asia.

At this size, take a unit that is already fitted. On 1,500 sq ft a S$270,000 fit-out spread over three years is S$7,500 a month on top of rent. A fitted unit at a slightly higher rent is almost always the cheaper outcome.

Reinstatement. Most leases require the unit returned to bare shell. Budget S$10 to S$30 per sq ft and expect to vacate four to six weeks before expiry. On 1,500 sq ft that is S$15,000 to S$45,000 falling due at the worst moment, when you are also paying for the next lease. Provide for it on day one.

Stamp duty. Lease duty is 0.4 per cent of total rent for terms of four years or less, and 0.4 per cent of four times the average annual rent beyond that. Documents signed in Singapore must be stamped within 14 days, or 30 days if signed overseas. By convention the tenant pays, though both parties are jointly liable.

Legal and insurance. Budget S$2,000 to S$5,000 for legal review, more if negotiating amendments. Landlords generally require public liability cover of S$1 million to S$3 million.

A worked example

Four people, 1,500 sq ft, Raffles Place Grade A at S$13.50 psf gross, three-year lease:

• Rent: S$20,250 a month, S$243,000 a year
• Security deposit, three months: S$60,750
• Stamp duty, 0.4 per cent of S$729,000: S$2,916
• Legal: around S$3,500
• Fit-out at S$180 psf: S$270,000, or close to nothing on a fitted unit
• Reinstatement provision, due at the end: S$15,000 to S$45,000

Cash out before you move in is roughly S$67,000 on a fitted unit against roughly S$337,000 fitting out from shell. Same address, same rent, same lease. That one decision is worth more than anything you will negotiate off the asking rent. Figures are indicative and current as at October 2026.

Rent and the MAS business spending requirement

Both schemes carry a minimum local business spending condition, tiered by assets under management: S$200,000 a year below S$250 million, S$500,000 from S$250 million to under S$2 billion, and S$1 million at S$2 billion and above.

Rent paid to a Singapore landlord is commonly treated as qualifying local business spending, alongside salaries, professional fees and technology. For many single family offices, the office they need anyway covers a meaningful part of a condition they must meet regardless.

We are property agents, not tax or legal advisers. Confirm the treatment with your tax adviser and against the current scheme conditions before relying on it in a budget.

How the lease works

The landlord issues a Letter of Offer with a specimen tenancy agreement. Signing it and paying the deposit locks the commercial terms, and landlords seldom agree to changes after that point. Everything you care about — fitted condition, fit-out period, renewal option, reinstatement scope — belongs in the Letter of Offer, not in a later conversation.

Three years at a fixed rent is the market default. Five-year terms normally carry an escalation into years four and five, commonly S$0.30 to S$0.50 psf or 3 to 5 per cent.

The rent-free fitting-out period depends on the unit: one to two months at 2,000 to 3,000 sq ft, eight to twelve weeks above 4,000 sq ft, twelve to sixteen weeks from shell and core, and two to four weeks on a fitted unit.

Negotiate the renewal option at the start. The notice window is typically six to nine months before expiry. If you expect to grow, ask for a right of first refusal over the adjacent unit while you still have something to trade.

Where to sit

Raffles Place and Marina Bay carry the address private banks and counterparties expect, and the rents that go with it. Tanjong Pagar and Anson Road sit a few dollars lower and walk to the same lunch. In Q3 2026 the sharpest movement was Tanjong Pagar and Anson Road, up 3.1 per cent on the quarter, then Raffles Place and Marina Bay at 2.7 per cent. The discount at the edge of the CBD is narrowing.

The market you are walking into

Core CBD Grade A vacancy is running at roughly 3.3 to 4.1 per cent, with the wider CBD across all grades at about 6 to 7 per cent. The share of buildings showing no available space rose from 6.2 per cent in June 2026 to 9.9 per cent in September. New Grade A supply is running at roughly 0.4 to 0.5 million sq ft a year through 2026 and 2027, against ten-year average demand of 0.9 to 1.3 million. Demand is led by banks, wealth and asset managers, law firms and technology occupiers.

Practically: there is little room to push the headline rent down. What is worth negotiating is the fitting-out period, whether the unit comes fitted, the reinstatement scope and the renewal terms. Those are worth more than the fifty cents you will not win on rent.

A realistic timeline

Shortlist and viewings take two to four weeks, negotiation and Letter of Offer one to two weeks, tenancy agreement and stamping around two weeks, and fit-out anywhere from two to sixteen weeks depending on the condition of the unit. Roughly two months into a fitted unit, four to six months from shell. If the office must be open before a scheme application or an audit date, work backwards from that date now.

Talk to us

We are building out office leasing alongside the residential side of the business. If you are setting up a family office and need space, we will shortlist buildings against your headcount and budget, tell you which units are genuinely fitted and which only look it, and handle the Letter of Offer and tenancy negotiation. Call +65 6677 5000 or email admin@finest-sri.sg.

Sources

Family office counts and employment: Monetary Authority of Singapore parliamentary replies. Scheme conditions: Sections 13O and 13U of the Income Tax Act as summarised by Singapore tax advisers. Rents and vacancy: Urban Redevelopment Authority quarterly statistics and JLL market commentary. Fit-out costs: Cushman & Wakefield Office Fit Out Cost Guide 2026. Lease duty: Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. Figures current as at October 2026 and subject to change.