7 Essential Tips for Renting an Apartment in Taiwan (Updated 2026)
Navigating a foreign real estate market can be complex, especially with unique local customs regarding deposits and lease terms. To help you secure the ideal home, we have compiled seven essential tips for renting in Taiwan. This guide covers everything from evaluating property layouts to understanding your legal rights as a tenant, ensuring a smooth and confident search process
|
7 Must Knows Before You Rent An Apartment in Taiwan |
|
1.What is your lease period?
Most leases in Taiwan are minimum 1 year lease. However, most landlords prefer a 2 year lease and are sometimes willing to accept better terms for longer lease periods.
On the other hand, short term rentals less than 1 year are extremely difficult (even if the tenant offers a higher rent to the landlord). The reason being that landlords do not want to go through the ordeal of finding a new tenant in just a few month’s time.
2.How to secure your apartment?
Taiwan landlords place a great emphasis on “first come first serve”; therefore it is usually recommended for a tenant to put down a deposit equivalent to half month’s rent to the if they show interest in the property. By doing so, this shows the landlord the tenant’s serious intent to rent and can also prevent other prospective tenants from taking the apartment.
3.How much is the security deposit?
The standard security deposit in Taiwan is equal to two months' rent (unless otherwise agreed by the landlord and tenant). Upon lease expiration, the landlord will return the 2 month’s security deposit minus any damages back to the tenant within a certain amount of days as stated in the lease.
4.What happens if you terminate your lease early?
Tenant’s will need to provide at least a 1 month notice and usually will face a penalty of one month’s rent in Taiwan.
5.What is the rent payment cycle?
Rent is usually paid every month on specified date written in the lease. However, as a bargaining chip, some tenants may offer to pay rent quarterly or even annually to the landlord.
6.Who pays for utilities and Internet/TV?
Rental prices typically don't include utility costs like gas, water, and electricity and Internet as these are user dependent and are expenses to be paid by the tenant.
7.Moving in and moving out
It is very important to document the apartment conditions with photos on the day the tenant moves in to prevent any complications on the day they move out (scratches/dents on the floors, walls, etc). If there are any discrepancies between when the tenant moved in and when they move out, the tenant may be liable for paying for these damages.