Gradual phasing out of rental rebates

The Ministry of Trade & Industry has projected that our economy will grow with a rate of 8% to 8.5% this year. With the anticipated improvement in business volume due to the robust growth, HDB will gradually phase out the rental rebates for its commercial and industrial tenants.

Gradual Phasing Out Of Rental Rebates

To help these businesses adjust to the withdrawal of rental rebates, HDB will continue to grant half of the existing rebates for the six-month period from 1 Jan 2005 to 30 Jun 2005. The same will apply to tenants under JTC Corporation (JTC), National Environment Agency (NEA) and licensees, lessees and tenants of Singapore Land Authority (SLA). This will benefit some 21,500 tenants, licensees and lessees under the various agencies, and is expected to cost the Government about $36 million. The rebates will be fully phased out from 1 Jul 2005.

Background

Since 1998, the Government has been granting rental relief measures to enable businesses to tide over the economic slowdown. Additional relief measures were introduced in 2001 and the rebates were extended on several occasions. To-date, the Government had granted rental rebates amounting to a total of $2.4 billion. As these measures are temporary relief, they are not meant to be permanent features and will have to end when the economy recovers.

Notifications

All tenants, licensees and lessees will be individually notified by the respective agencies. For general enquiries, customers can call the following lines:

Queries

Can you give the number of tenants, licensees and lessees of SLA eligible for the revised rebates?
"SLA will continue to grant half of the existing rebates to 303 eligible tenants/licensees/lessees. They are currently occupying commercial and industrial properties and farmlands on leases, TAs and TOLs granted or issued by SLA. They will be notified of the changes in the rental rebates"

Issued by:
Housing and Development Board
22 December 2004