Renting in Hsinchu

• Where listings are 591 is the main rental listings site; local agents (房仲) cover much of the rest.
• Deposit At most two months' rent, by law, for homes rented for 30 days or more.
• Contract Use the Ministry of the Interior's 住宅租賃契約書範本 (residential lease template); an English translation exists.
• Usually extra Utilities, a monthly management fee in towers, and parking if you need it.

Renting here works much as it does elsewhere in Taiwan, with two local twists: much of the newer housing, especially in Zhubei and Guanpu, is in managed towers with fees and parking spaces, and you'll care more about parking than you would in Taipei. This page covers the process and the rules; it isn't legal advice, and if a dispute comes up, talk to your local government's land affairs office or a lawyer.

Finding a place

• 591 (rent.591.com.tw): filter by city or county, then district (East District, Zhubei City and so on), type and rent. The listings are in Chinese; a browser translator gets you most of the way.
• Agents: walk into the agencies near where you want to live and say what you want. Agents often know homes that aren't online. Under the Real Estate Broking Management Act, rentals arranged through a broker must be reported to the government's price registry.
• Your employer: ask HR or colleagues. Many companies in the parks have a relocation contact, an agent they use, or a building where colleagues already live.

Careful: never pay a deposit or "holding fee" before you've seen the home, met the landlord or agent, and seen proof the person signing has the right to rent it out. The standard contract requires the landlord to show that proof and ID.

Agent fees

A broker's total fee for a rental, from landlord and tenant together, is capped by the Ministry of the Interior at one and a half months' rent. That's a ceiling, not a set rate, and the split between landlord and tenant should be written in the agent's agreement before you sign it. Ask up front what you'll pay.

What to check at a viewing

The MOI's standard rules include a property condition sheet (租賃標的現況確認書) the landlord fills in. Ask for it, and use it as your checklist:

• Leaks and damp: look under sinks, at window frames and on ceilings, and ask how any leak will be fixed before you move in.
• Illegal additions (違建): rooftop or balcony extensions can be ordered demolished. The landlord should say if there are any.
• Building age: buildings licensed between 1982 and 1984 should be checked for radiation; older concrete may have been tested for sea sand. Ask if tests were done.
• Fire safety: a smoke alarm, and for towers, fire equipment and regular inspections.
• Water and drainage: run the taps and the shower, flush the toilet.
• Air-conditioning and hot water: how many units, how old, and whether the water heater is gas or electric.
• Parking: whether a car or scooter space is included, which number, flat (平面式) or mechanical (機械式), and its own monthly fee.
• Fixtures and furniture: list everything that stays (the form has a checklist from the fridge to the curtains) and photograph it on move-in day.
• Building rules: towers have house rules (規約) on pets, renovations, deliveries and rubbish. Ask to see them.
• The wind and the sun: in Hsinchu, which way the balcony faces matters in the windy months and in summer afternoons.

The form also asks whether the home has had a murder, suicide or other unnatural death. Landlords must answer it, and many Taiwanese tenants care.

Deposits

Under Article 7 of the Rental Housing Market Development and Regulation Act (租賃住宅市場發展及管理條例), the deposit may not exceed two months' rent in total. When the lease ends and you hand back the home, the landlord returns the deposit, minus anything you owe under the lease (unpaid rent or bills, damage you caused). The Act doesn't apply to stays under 30 days, holiday lets, or some government and cooperative housing.

Rent is usually paid monthly in advance; the contract says the day and how (cash or bank transfer). The landlord can't raise the rent during the lease term on the standard contract.

The contract

The Ministry of the Interior publishes a residential lease template for both company and private landlords (住宅租賃契約書範本, current Chinese version dated July 2024), plus an English translation of the 2020 version. When the landlord is a business, the ministry's rules for standard-form leases (住宅租賃定型化契約應記載及不得記載事項) are binding; private landlords are covered by a parallel set of rules. Ask for the template either way. Things it sets out:

• Time to read it: under the standard-form rules you get at least three days to review the contract before signing, and that can't be waived.
• Repairs: the landlord repairs the home and its fittings unless you've agreed otherwise in writing, or you caused the damage. If the landlord doesn't fix something after you've set a reasonable deadline, you can repair it and deduct the cost from rent.
• Leaving early: the contract says whether either side may end it early. If it allows that, give at least a month's notice; skipping the notice costs at most one month's rent.
• When the landlord can end it: for set reasons, such as two months' unpaid rent after a reminder, unauthorised subletting, or rebuilding, with written notice (generally 30 days, three months for rebuilding).
• When you can end it: for set reasons, including repairs not done, a home that's unsafe, or long-term medical treatment, with 30 days' written notice.
• Subletting: only with the landlord's written consent.
• Moving out: landlord and tenant inspect the home together and settle the rent and bills.
• What can't be in it: a clause banning you from claiming rent on your tax return, from registering the address, or from applying for a rent subsidy, or one that waives the review period.

You and the landlord can also agree to have the lease notarised (公證); the template sets out who pays the fee.

Utilities and building fees

• Electricity, water, gas, internet: the contract says who pays each. If the landlord bills you for electricity by the unit, the standard-form rules say the rate can't be more than the average rate on that period's Taipower bill. In older buildings and shared homes, check how the meter works.
• Management fee (管理費): towers charge a monthly fee for guards, cleaning and shared facilities. The contract says who pays it and how much, and parking spaces often have their own fee. Under the standard-form rules, if the fee rises during the lease for reasons beyond either side's control, the tenant pays at most 10% of the increase.
• Air-conditioning: your biggest summer bill. Newer inverter units cost less to run.

→ What to budget for

Furnished or unfurnished

Many family-sized flats come with air-conditioners, a water heater, kitchen fittings and some built-in wardrobes, and little else; others come fully furnished. Studios (套房) are more often furnished. Agree in writing what stays, and photograph it all on move-in day, including existing scratches and stains.

Talking to agents and landlords

Expect most communication in Chinese, often over LINE. If you don't read Chinese, ask a colleague or your company's relocation contact to join the key conversations, and get anything important (repairs, what's included, the deposit) in writing in the contract or a LINE message, not just said at the viewing. The standard contract lets both sides agree to send notices by email, SMS or messaging app.

Renting with kids or pets

• Kids: check the building's playground and parks, how close the school bus stop is, window guards on high floors, and noise rules.
• Pets: ask before you view. Some landlords and some tower rules say no, and it should be written into the contract if it's allowed.

Address registration

Taiwanese tenants register their household (戶籍) at an address, and the standard rules say a lease can't forbid that. As a foreign resident you don't have a household registration; instead your ARC carries your address. Under the Immigration Act, if you change your residence address you must report it to the National Immigration Agency within 30 days. Before signing, make sure the address on the lease is complete and matches the door plate, because you'll use it for the ARC, your bank and your health insurance. → Your first 30 days

How to check rents yourself

We don't publish average rents: they'd be out of date fast and hide big differences between buildings. Instead, use the Ministry of the Interior's actual price registry at lvr.land.moi.gov.tw. Choose the rental search (租賃查詢), pick 新竹市 or 新竹縣 and a district (竹北市, 東區...), then filter by building type, whole-flat or room rental, size, age and parking. Two limits: the data mainly cover leases arranged through brokers and rental businesses, not landlords renting directly, and obvious outliers are removed. → Cost of living

→ Where to live · Your first 30 days · Cost of living

Sources: Rental Housing Market Development and Regulation Act (租賃住宅市場發展及管理條例), Articles 4 to 12; Ministry of the Interior real estate information platform, contract templates and rules: 住宅租賃契約書範本 (July 2024), its English translation (2020) and 住宅租賃定型化契約應記載及不得記載事項 (as amended April 2025); Real Estate Broking Management Act, Article 24-1; the MOI brokerage fee standard (不動產仲介經紀業報酬計收標準) as quoted in a Control Yuan corrective report; Immigration Act, Article 31; MOI actual price registration; 591. Checked November 2026.