URA further extends rent relief period for its tenants

In view of the ongoing impact brought by COVID-19 pandemic to the economy of Hong Kong, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announces today (29 April 2021) to further extend the rent relief for its domestic tenants and commercial tenants in its properties for another six months until the end of September 2021, in a bid to assist the URA’s tenants in the face of current economic challenges amid the pandemic to sustain their businesses and support employment.

The URA’s rent relief measures have been in place for a year since April 2020.  In response to the Government’s rent relief measures announced in the 2021-22 Budget, the URA Board approves today the implementation details and eligibility of the extended rent relief measures for its tenants.  Relevant rent relief amount for the month of April and May will be apportioned to cover the rental payments for the month of June and onwards. 

The relief measures will continue to benefit tenants from a wide range of trades including food and beverages, retail, services, education and social enterprise with details as follows:

• 75% rent relief for over 600 domestic and commercial tenants in the rehousing blocks and the acquired properties within the URA’s redevelopment projects.
• 75% rent relief for commercial tenants operating in the commercial portions of redevelopment, preservation and revitalisation projects with tenancy agreements signed with the URA.  For those tenants whose businesses have not been affected by the pandemic, the URA will only consider offering a rent concession if they agree to contribute a portion of the rent concession to society for charity or other community good causes (such as giving free meals to the low-income families), as a way to tide over the difficulties together with the public.  Rent relief measures, however, will not be applicable to those tenants with tenancy agreements effective from January 2021, as the level of rent has already taken into consideration the prevailing market conditions.
• For about 280 commercial tenants in the seven shopping malls¹ jointly operated by the URA and joint venture developers, the URA will continue to discuss with the developers on the rent relief measures that could be applied to them.  Different magnitude of the percentage of relief will be applied to different trades, with up to a reduction of 75% from the original rent.

Subject to the development of the pandemic and the impact on the domestic and commercial tenants in its projects, the URA will review the need for further extension of the relief measures to help the tenants sustain their businesses over difficult times.

(ENDS)