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The Government announces new polices to moderate food prices at hawker centres, including the banning of stall subletting and assigning.
Singapore, March 6, 2012
To keep hawker food prices affordable to Singaporeans, subletting and assigning of stalls in hawker centres will be banned from April 1.
The Government announced in a media statement today that changes to existing hawker tenancy policies will apply to both current and new hawker centres.
New policies like the building of new hawker centres and provision of more stalls will also help moderate food prices.
The new measures were also revealed in Parliament today by Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Grace Fu.
Following the Government’s announcement last October that 10 new hawker centres would be built in the next decade, seven hawker centre sites have been identified in the following towns: Bukit Panjang, Yishun, Pasir Ris, Jurong West, Woodlands, Punggol and Tampines.
In building the new hawker centres, the Government will also draw on recommendations of the Hawker Centre Public Consultation Panel, formed in November 2011 to deliberate on new ideas to improve the "vibrancy, design and management" of the the new centres, said the statement.
Besides increasing the number of stalls, the Government will seek to moderate food prices by changing existing hawker tenancy policies.
It said: "Currently, non-subsidised stallholders are allowed to sublet and assign their stalls. As part of the measures to reduce the cost pressures on stallholders and to keep food prices affordable, the Government will no longer allow full day subletting, as there have been concerns that such practices increase rentals and cost pressures on food prices."
Stallholders are required to operate the stall personally for at least four hours a day, but will be allowed to have a co-operator to run the stall for the other half of the day. This is something the panel had also recommended.
Addressing concerns that the existing Stall Assignment Scheme "allows speculators to profit and drive up food prices", non-subsidised stallholders will also not be allowed to assign their stalls to someone else, said the statement.
"There are hawkers who take over stalls by way of assignment after paying assignment fees. To recoup their investment, they may then pass down the costs to consumers in the form of higher food prices.
"To address this, non-subsidised stallholders who are no longer interested in operating their stalls are to return the stalls to NEA, who will in turn rent the stalls out," the statement said.
These new restrictions will take effect from April 1.
For the current stallholders in existing centres, the no full-day subletting and no stall assignment conditions will apply to tenancy renewals three years from now to allow stallholders reasonable time to make business adjustment. There will be no change in policy for subsidised stallholders.
Stall allocation policy
Currently, stalls are allocated to the highest bidders whose bids are above the minimum rent under the Tender Scheme. But to allow more vacant stalls to be taken up, a reserve rent will not be set when the Government tenders them out.
This means that vacant stalls will be allocated to the highest bidder even at a low price, as long as there are competitive bids. This will ensure that all stalls in hawker centres are fully utilised.
Plans for new hawker centres
The Hawker Centre Consultation Panel has provided a number of ideas on management, infrastructure and design for the new hawker centres.
Taking them into account, together with suggestions from the public, the Government will study these proposals further under the following areas:
1) Future management models
As part of the review process, the Government is also exploring alternative hawker centre management models and assessing the suitability of different management models for the new hawker centres.
While the Government has been managing hawker centres thus far, it acknowledges that there is domain expertise in the private sector such as F & B management which can be tapped.
The building of new hawker centres provides an opportunity to start pilot management models that may improve on the current approach.
The Government is open to partnering with different stakeholders on the design, building, and operation of new hawker centres, as long as their aims are aligned with the Government’s social objectives of achieving food price affordability and meeting community needs.
The Panel’s proposal for a social enterprise or cooperative to manage a new hawker centre as a pilot project is something that the Government is exploring.
2) Better design features
Beyond food price affordability, hawker centre customers should continue to enjoy a clean, hygienic and comfortable dining environment. Design features of the new hawker centres will take cost concerns into consideration to ensure that overall costs are kept low.
Drawing on the Panel’s recommendations, new design ideas will be implemented in the new hawker centres to improve air circulation, such as designing buildings to enhance natural ventilation.
Environment-friendly features to improve energy efficiency, resource and water conservation will also be incorporated wherever possible.
Examples of these features include energy-saving lights, which will help to lower costs in the longer term, and ways to encourage recycling by patrons and stallholders.
To improve the overall cleanliness of hawker centres, designated return points for trays and crockery will also be a key feature in the new hawker centres.
3) Hawker centres for social inclusiveness
The Government will continue to engage and consult closely with constituency advisors and grassroots organisations for their inputs and ideas on the new centres to be built.
Ideas for their design and development should also come from the people they will serve, as hawker centres are more than just places for affordable food.
"They are also important common spaces that cultivate a sense of community and key features of a city that is inclusive and makes room for everyone," concluded the Government statement.
Singapore, March 6, 2012
To keep hawker food prices affordable to Singaporeans, subletting and assigning of stalls in hawker centres will be banned from April 1.
The Government announced in a media statement today that changes to existing hawker tenancy policies will apply to both current and new hawker centres.
New policies like the building of new hawker centres and provision of more stalls will also help moderate food prices.
The new measures were also revealed in Parliament today by Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Grace Fu.
Following the Government’s announcement last October that 10 new hawker centres would be built in the next decade, seven hawker centre sites have been identified in the following towns: Bukit Panjang, Yishun, Pasir Ris, Jurong West, Woodlands, Punggol and Tampines.
In building the new hawker centres, the Government will also draw on recommendations of the Hawker Centre Public Consultation Panel, formed in November 2011 to deliberate on new ideas to improve the "vibrancy, design and management" of the the new centres, said the statement.
Besides increasing the number of stalls, the Government will seek to moderate food prices by changing existing hawker tenancy policies.
It said: "Currently, non-subsidised stallholders are allowed to sublet and assign their stalls. As part of the measures to reduce the cost pressures on stallholders and to keep food prices affordable, the Government will no longer allow full day subletting, as there have been concerns that such practices increase rentals and cost pressures on food prices."
Stallholders are required to operate the stall personally for at least four hours a day, but will be allowed to have a co-operator to run the stall for the other half of the day. This is something the panel had also recommended.
Addressing concerns that the existing Stall Assignment Scheme "allows speculators to profit and drive up food prices", non-subsidised stallholders will also not be allowed to assign their stalls to someone else, said the statement.
"There are hawkers who take over stalls by way of assignment after paying assignment fees. To recoup their investment, they may then pass down the costs to consumers in the form of higher food prices.
"To address this, non-subsidised stallholders who are no longer interested in operating their stalls are to return the stalls to NEA, who will in turn rent the stalls out," the statement said.
These new restrictions will take effect from April 1.
For the current stallholders in existing centres, the no full-day subletting and no stall assignment conditions will apply to tenancy renewals three years from now to allow stallholders reasonable time to make business adjustment. There will be no change in policy for subsidised stallholders.
Stall allocation policy
Currently, stalls are allocated to the highest bidders whose bids are above the minimum rent under the Tender Scheme. But to allow more vacant stalls to be taken up, a reserve rent will not be set when the Government tenders them out.
This means that vacant stalls will be allocated to the highest bidder even at a low price, as long as there are competitive bids. This will ensure that all stalls in hawker centres are fully utilised.
Plans for new hawker centres
The Hawker Centre Consultation Panel has provided a number of ideas on management, infrastructure and design for the new hawker centres.
Taking them into account, together with suggestions from the public, the Government will study these proposals further under the following areas:
1) Future management models
As part of the review process, the Government is also exploring alternative hawker centre management models and assessing the suitability of different management models for the new hawker centres.
While the Government has been managing hawker centres thus far, it acknowledges that there is domain expertise in the private sector such as F & B management which can be tapped.
The building of new hawker centres provides an opportunity to start pilot management models that may improve on the current approach.
The Government is open to partnering with different stakeholders on the design, building, and operation of new hawker centres, as long as their aims are aligned with the Government’s social objectives of achieving food price affordability and meeting community needs.
The Panel’s proposal for a social enterprise or cooperative to manage a new hawker centre as a pilot project is something that the Government is exploring.
2) Better design features
Beyond food price affordability, hawker centre customers should continue to enjoy a clean, hygienic and comfortable dining environment. Design features of the new hawker centres will take cost concerns into consideration to ensure that overall costs are kept low.
Drawing on the Panel’s recommendations, new design ideas will be implemented in the new hawker centres to improve air circulation, such as designing buildings to enhance natural ventilation.
Environment-friendly features to improve energy efficiency, resource and water conservation will also be incorporated wherever possible.
Examples of these features include energy-saving lights, which will help to lower costs in the longer term, and ways to encourage recycling by patrons and stallholders.
To improve the overall cleanliness of hawker centres, designated return points for trays and crockery will also be a key feature in the new hawker centres.
3) Hawker centres for social inclusiveness
The Government will continue to engage and consult closely with constituency advisors and grassroots organisations for their inputs and ideas on the new centres to be built.
Ideas for their design and development should also come from the people they will serve, as hawker centres are more than just places for affordable food.
"They are also important common spaces that cultivate a sense of community and key features of a city that is inclusive and makes room for everyone," concluded the Government statement.
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