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Eligible tenants of state properties managed by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) will enjoy additional rental waivers, according to a release issued on Thursday (11 June).
In the release, SLA revealed that it will waive an additional two months of rental for eligible tenants in commercial accommodation, retail, recreation/entertainment, F&B, healthcare and other services as well as social sector tenants.
Along with the two-month rental waiver unveiled in the Unity Budget and Resilience Budget, such tenants will benefit to a total of four months’ rent waiver starting from April to July.
An additional one-month rental waiver will also be extended to eligible tenants in commercial offices, agricultural and industrial sector tenants.
“On top of the one-month rental waiver announced under the Solidarity Budget in April, they will now receive a total of two months’ rental waiver,” said SLA.
Meanwhile, master tenants – or those who have sub-tenanted state properties – are required to pass on the rental reliefs to eligible small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) sub-tenants, in line with the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Amendment) Bill.
Read: Rental Relief Guide for Commercial Tenants during COVID-19
“Eligible SME sub-tenants in commercial accommodation, F&B, retail, recreation/entertainment, healthcare and other services, as well as social sector are to receive four months’ rental waiver; and sub-tenants in commercial offices, industrial and agriculture sector are to receive two month’s rental waiver,” said the release.
The master tenants should also sign an undertaking that they have extended the mandated rental relief to eligible NPO and commercial SME sub-tenants.
“In cases where sub-tenants are not SMEs, or do not qualify for the mandated rental relief, master tenants are required to pass down at least 80% of the rental waivers received,” added SLA.
Master tenants are allowed to offset any rental relief provided to the sub-tenants by previous monetary assistance from February this year.
Master tenants and sub-tenants suffering from cash flow issues can apply for deferred payment of rent arrears that were accumulated from 1 February to 19 October. The arrears can be repaid in equal instalments over a period of nine months, with annual interest capped at 3%.
They can also use their security deposits to offset rent arrears incurred from 1 February to 19 October. However, a minimum of one month’s security deposit should be retained.
The security deposit should also be replenished based on the contractual amount by the end of the nine-month repayment period.
SLA noted that master tenants suffering from cash flow issues can also request for an assessment if they are unable to extend the full rental waiver to their sub-tenants.
“In total, rental waivers will be granted to over 2,000 commercial tenants and over 100 social sector tenants of State properties; with rental relief to be passed through to over 2,000 eligible sub-tenants,” said SLA.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg