Term and registration
Most Indian residential tenancies are written for eleven months and renewed, because a lease of a year or more must be registered under the Registration Act, 1908. An unregistered long lease is weak evidence if the tenancy is ever disputed.
If you want security for longer than a year, register the lease and pay the stamp duty your state charges on leases. It costs money and an afternoon; it also means the agreement can be produced in court.
Deposit and its return
Write the deposit amount in figures and words, name the account it was paid from, and state the number of days within which it must be returned after handover.
State what may be deducted — unpaid rent, unpaid utility bills, damage beyond fair wear and tear — and say explicitly that ordinary wear is not deductible. Several states, under their Model Tenancy Act adaptations, also cap residential deposits; check what applies where you are renting.
Rent, escalation and who pays what
Fix the rent, the due date, the mode of payment and the escalation at renewal as a stated percentage rather than 'as mutually agreed'.
Split the outgoings line by line: society maintenance, property tax, major repairs, minor repairs, electricity, water, internet. The usual division is that the owner pays the structural and statutory costs and the tenant pays for consumption and small repairs, but write it down rather than assume it.
Notice, lock-in and entry
Notice period and lock-in are different things. A lock-in binds both sides for a stated period; a notice period governs how a tenancy ends after that. Make both symmetrical unless there is a reason not to.
Add an entry clause: the owner may inspect with reasonable written notice at a reasonable hour. Without it, disputes about turning up unannounced have nothing to be measured against.
Use, alterations and subletting
State who will live in the home and whether subletting or short-stay use is allowed. Blanket bans on guests are unenforceable and unnecessary; a clear line on subletting is both.
Say what alterations need permission. Fixing a shelf is not an alteration; moving a wall is.
The handover record
Attach an inventory: fittings, appliances, keys, meter readings and the condition of each room, with photographs, signed and dated by both sides.
Repeat the exercise on the way out. The overwhelming majority of deposit disputes are decided by whether this record exists.
Common questions
Why are rent agreements always eleven months?
Because a lease of twelve months or more must be registered under the Registration Act, 1908. Eleven months avoids that requirement — at the cost of the protection registration gives.
Can the owner keep the deposit for repainting?
Only if the agreement says so or the damage goes beyond fair wear and tear. Routine repainting between tenants is normally the owner's cost unless it was agreed otherwise in writing.
Is a notarised agreement the same as a registered one?
No. Notarisation attests signatures; registration puts the document on the public record. Only registration satisfies the Act for a lease of a year or more.
Sources
- Registration Act, 1908 — registration of leases
- Your state's rent control legislation or its adaptation of the Model Tenancy Act, 2021
- State stamp schedule for duty on lease deeds
Last checked 2026-09-23.