Match the place to the length of the works. Under three months, stay in a hotel or a serviced apartment, which has a seven-day minimum. From three months, you can also take a short lease on a private home, a long-stay serviced apartment or co-living. Private homes cannot be let for less than three months, and HDB flats for less than six.
A renovation is a move in both directions. You pack up, live somewhere else for weeks or months, and move back into a home that has changed. The place you stay is the biggest cost and the easiest part to get wrong, because Singapore's minimum-stay rules rule out the obvious answer of renting a nearby flat for a month.
Match the stay to the length of the works
Ask your contractor for the programme in writing, then add a margin: works slip, and the last fortnight of snagging is when you most want somewhere else to sleep.
| Length of works | Where you can stay | Minimum stay |
|---|---|---|
| Up to a few weeks | Hotel; serviced apartment; family | None for a hotel; 7 days for a serviced apartment |
| One to three months | Serviced apartment | 7 days |
| Three months or more | Serviced apartment; long-stay serviced apartment; co-living; a short lease on a private home | 3 months for a long-stay serviced apartment or a private home |
Minimum stays as published by URA (short-term accommodation, updated 15 June 2026; Serviced Apartments II, updated 13 July 2026). HDB flats cannot be rented out for less than six months. Read 14 October 2026.
Your options
A serviced apartment
The answer for most renovations under three months. Furnished, with utilities and housekeeping included, so nothing needs setting up for a stay you want to forget. Ask whether the operator has a long-stay rate, and what a longer booking does to the price.
A hotel
No minimum stay, which makes it the flexible choice for a short job or the last stretch when the programme slips. Less space and no kitchen, so it suits weeks better than months.
A short lease, co-living or a long-stay serviced apartment
From three months. A landlord may agree a lease shorter than the usual one or two years, though you will have to ask, and the paperwork is a full lease's: agreement, stamp duty and deposit. Co-living and URA's long-stay serviced apartments offer three-month terms with furniture included.
Family or friends
For a short job, often the easiest answer. Agree an end date before you move in.
We have deliberately put no rates on this page; operator prices move with the season. For the rules in more depth, see short-term housing in Singapore.
Your belongings
Decide early whether furniture goes to storage or stays, covered, in a room the contractor will not touch. Storage frees the whole home for the works; staying saves two moves of every large piece. Either way, photograph anything valuable before work starts, so its condition is on record if something is damaged.
In a condominium, renovation has its own rules, set by the MCST just as moving is. Your contractor will usually need an approved application, a deposit and permitted hours. See condo moving rules in Singapore for how the building side works.
The move out and back
Two moves, each with its own building application, lift booking and day. The move back is the one people forget to plan: it lands at the end of the works, when the contractor's dates are least certain. Book it once the handover date is firm, and keep the temporary stay a week past it.
Common questions
Where can I stay during a renovation in Singapore?
For under three months, a hotel or a serviced apartment, which has a seven-day minimum. For three months or more, also a short lease on a private home, a long-stay serviced apartment or co-living. Family nearby is often the cheapest answer for a short job.
Can I rent a condo for one or two months while my home is renovated?
Not lawfully. Private homes in Singapore cannot be let for less than three consecutive months, and HDB flats for less than six, so a one or two month stay belongs in a hotel or a serviced apartment.
Should I move out during a renovation?
If the works touch the kitchen or bathrooms, involve hacking, or run longer than a few weeks, most families do: dust, noise and no water or power for days make living on site hard. For a repaint or a single room, staying is often workable.
What should I do with my furniture during a renovation?
Either move it into storage or group it into a room the contractor will not touch, covered. Photograph anything valuable before work starts, so its condition is on record if something is damaged.
Moving out for a renovation, and back again?
We manage the building side and the day of each move, around the dates you set for the move out and the move back. Booking where you stay is yours. Tell us your dates and we will say what is involved.
See Move Management →Sources
- URA, short-term accommodation (updated 15 June 2026), ura.gov.sg. Read 14 October 2026.
- URA, Serviced Apartments II (updated 13 July 2026), ura.gov.sg. Read 14 October 2026.
- gov.sg, renting out your HDB flat (13 April 2023). Read 14 October 2026.
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