Rent agreement in Kerala
What to know before you sign a residential rent agreement in Kerala.
- Agreement format
- Lease Agreement
- Governing act
- Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965 (stamp duty under the Kerala Stamp Act, 1959)
- Stamp duty basis
- Flat statutory amount
- Stamp duty rule
- Flat ₹500 stamp for a residential agreement under one year (raised from ₹200, effective 1 April 2024). Registration is optional for 11-month terms; if you register, the fee is about 2% of the agreement value
- Security deposit
- Excluded from the dutiable base
- Registration
- Registration is optional for agreements up to 11 months; mandatory only for leases that exceed one year (Registration Act 1908, ss. 17–18)
- e-Stamp portal
- Kerala Registration Department (PEARL)
Law checked: Not yet verified · Procedure checked: Not yet verified. Confirm with the official portal before paying duty.
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Questions about renting in Kerala
- Which agreement format is used in Kerala?
- Kerala follows Kerala, where the usual format is a lease agreement. The governing law in our data is the Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965 (stamp duty under the Kerala Stamp Act, 1959).
- How is stamp duty worked out in Kerala?
- Flat ₹500 stamp for a residential agreement under one year (raised from ₹200, effective 1 April 2024). Registration is optional for 11-month terms; if you register, the fee is about 2% of the agreement value. Treat this as indicative and confirm it on the official portal before paying.
- Do I need to register a rent agreement in Kerala?
- Registration is optional for agreements up to 11 months; mandatory only for leases that exceed one year (Registration Act 1908, ss. 17–18).
- Where do I pay stamp duty for Kerala?
- Our data lists Kerala Registration Department (PEARL) for Kerala.
- How is the security deposit treated for stamp duty in Kerala?
- Excluded from the dutiable base.
Guides
Source data: Starting point: a third-party public stamp-duty and registration dataset published under CC BY 4.0, fetched 2026-10-20. Not independently verified: lawVerified/procedureVerified are null until each row is checked against the state Stamp Act and the official portal. Replace with primary-source data before launch.