Solidarity Budget: More rental support for govt's industrial, office, agri tenants

THE rental waiver for industrial, office and agricultural tenants of Singapore's government agencies will be increased to one month, under the new Solidarity Budget announced on Monday.

This is bumped up from the half-month waiver announced last month in the Resilience Budget by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat.

Stallholders in hawker centres managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) or NEA-appointed operators will continue to receive three months of rental waivers, DPM Heng said in Parliament on Monday.

Meanwhile, government agencies' commercial tenants will continue to receive two months of rental waivers, he added.

DPM Heng had earlier announced a property tax rebate of up to 100 per cent for non-residential properties, for tax payable in 2020, to help businesses deal with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

For most properties, this 100 per cent property tax rebate works out to slightly more than one month of rent.

On Tuesday, the Minister for Law will introduce a Bill to let businesses and individuals defer certain contractual obligations, such as paying rent, repaying loans, or completing work, for a period.

This Bill will also ensure that property owners pass on the property tax rebate in full, to tenants.