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SINGAPORE - Many food and beverage (F&B) outlets have yet to receive confirmation of rental rebates despite several landlords in the commercial sector publicly announcing various relief packages more than a month ago, said the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS).
In a media statement on Monday (March 2), the association said that apart from four landlords - Jewel Changi Airport, Changi Airport Group, JTC Corporation and the National Parks Board - who have sent written notices on rental rebates to their tenants, many other landlords and mall owners have been "slow to react to the appeals of their F&B tenants".
Alongside the tourism and hospitality sectors, F&B establishments have taken a hit from the Covid-19 outbreak, with many seeing a drop in clientele in the past two months.
Some restaurants expect their revenue to fall by as much as 80 per cent in the next few months, the RAS said.
Some landlords have announced support measures such as rental rebates and shorter operating hours. For example, Changi Airport has given its retail, F&B and service outlets a 50 per cent rental rebate for six months, starting in February. But most landlords have yet to roll out support measures.
In the statement, the RAS called out landlord CapitaLand for promising rental rebates of 50 per cent for its restaurant tenants but offering those in urban malls a 10 to 15 per cent rental rebate instead.
"For CapitaLand's suburban malls, which form the bulk of its portfolio of shopping malls, no rental rebates have been granted," said the association.
Executive director of RAS Edwin Fong said: "We are deeply disappointed in the landlords' lack of follow-through in spite of public announcements of support for the industry during this crisis. Many of the F&B outlets, especially those run by smaller operators, have an urgent need for assistance to alleviate their cash-flow situation and mitigate the uncertainties they face in the current climate brought on by Covid-19."
He added: "We remain hopeful that the landlords will honour their word to roll out their rental rebates. The landlords need to fulfil their role as partners in helping the F&B industry save jobs and secure the livelihood of our employees."
Responding, CapitaLand president for Singapore and international, Mr Jason Leow, said: “It is unfortunate that the entire relief package has not been fully comprehended by RAS, despite our ongoing engagements.”
He said that rental relief by CapitaLand will be disbursed to tenants in a targeted manner, since the coronavirus outbreak has impacted different malls and trade categories in varying degrees.
CapitaLand said last week that it would offer various forms of support including flexible rental payments and a “one-time rental rebate of up to half a month for eligible tenants”. To ease cash flow for all its mall tenants, the landlord will also be giving each tenant one month’s worth of their security deposit in March.
Mr Leow said: “Communication with individual tenants on their relief package is ongoing. As an interim relief, we have granted rental rebates of 20 per cent to 30 per cent over two months to eligible tenants in our downtown malls, which have been more affected.”
CapitaLand aims to inform all tenants of their respective rental relief packages by the end of March.
Mr Leow added: “We will continue to engage our tenants closely and stand prepared to do more should the situation require.”
The Straits Times has contacted other major commercial landlords for comments.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ppointed-in-landlords-foot-dragging-in-rental
