The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
 
     To tie in with the Government's measures to extend rental concessions, the Commercial Properties Committee (CPC) of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) today (September 29) approved a further extension of the 75 per cent rent concession for the HA's eligible non-domestic tenants/licensees and carpark users for monthly parking of commercial vehicles for three months from October 1 to December 31, 2022.
 
     The CPC also approved that during the extended rent concession period, eligible tenants/licensees of the HA's non-domestic premises may continue to apply for a 100 per cent rent concession for the period during which their operation at the premises concerned is required to be closed under anti-epidemic regulations or directions of the Government. 
 
     "The HA's extension of rent concessions for eligible non-domestic tenants is in line with the Government's measure announced on September 16, 2022, to ease the operating pressure on businesses," a spokesman for the HA said.
 
     To safeguard the efficient use of the HA's resources, in this round of extension, rent concessions for the trades of convenience stores, personal stores and fresh/chilled/frozen food will be subject to the tenants' application and production of proof of sales drops, in line with that currently applicable to supermarkets/superstores. Specifically, if the tenants of the said trades suffer a drop in gross sales during the extended rent concession period as compared to that of the same period in the preceding year, a rent concession at the same percentage will be provided to them, capped at 75 per cent.
 
     "To assist small businesses, this requirement is not applicable to shop premises let to individuals; and all shopstalls irrespective of whether they are let to companies or individuals. In other words, tenants/licensees of these premises will continue to enjoy the 75 per cent rent concession in the same way as other eligible HA's non-domestic tenants/licensees," the spokesman said.
 
     Apart from the above arrangement for the three trades, the same arrangements and coverage for the extension of rent concessions as endorsed by the CPC in March 2022 will continue to apply.
 
     It is estimated that around 8 500 of the HA's non-domestic tenants/licensees, including about 2 600 retail and 1 380 factory tenants/licensees; tenants/licensees of some 80 advertising signboards and some 40 tenancies of bus kiosks; and about 4 400 carpark users will benefit from the extension of rent concessions.
 
     The spokesman added that the HA would continue to adopt a flexible approach in dealing with tenancies which expire before the end of the extended rent concession period as a transitional arrangement.
 
     "To enable tenants to continue their use and occupation of the premises upon tenancy expiry, licences will be granted at the existing rent, pending agreement of the new rent for the new tenancies upon renewal," he said.
 
     The CPC has earlier approved multiple rounds of rent concessions for the HA's eligible retail, factory and non-domestic tenants, following the Government's measures to support enterprises and relieve people's financial burden.
 
     The rent foregone for this extension of the 75 per cent rent concession for three months is estimated to be around $352 million.
 
     The total rent foregone for rent concessions granted by the HA to its eligible non-domestic tenants/licensees for the 39-month period from October 1, 2019, to December 31, 2022, is estimated to be around $4,000 million.

Ends/Thursday, September 29, 2022
Issued at HKT 14:55

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