Small area of land appears to be rented (5)
I believe the answer is:
islet
'small area' is the definition.
I know that 'small' relates to this answer. I also know that both the answer and definition are singular nouns
'land appears to be rented' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'land' could be 'isle' (isle is a kind of land) and 'isle' is located in the answer.
A single letter 't' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for islet that I've seen before include "A small piece of territory" , "Minor key" , "Eyot, holm, inch" , "Eyot, key" , "Cay, for example" .)