Restaurants Seeking Lower Rental From Malls In Anticipation Of 80% Drop In Revenue

Various businesses and retailers have been gravely impacted by the novel coronavirus situation in Singapore.

One of the many are F&B outlets, and they’re asking for help.

Restaurants Seeking Lower Rental From Malls In Anticipation Of 80% Drop In Revenue

The food and beverage (F&B) sector are asking for help from landlords amidst the novel coronavirus situation which has negatively impacted business.

Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS) president Vincent Tan said yesterday that the livelihoods of around 200,000 works at the 12,000 F&B outlets here could face peril.

For one, they are expecting revenues to fall by as much as 50-80% over the next three months.

Thus, RAS has taken it upon itself to reach out to 24 shopping mall landlords to request for rental rebates in order to provide assistance to F&B tenants to help them get through this rough patch.

This decision was made following the discovery of eight more confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections. Five of these are linked to a cluster at the Grace Assembly of God church.

Letters Sent To 24 Mall Operators

In a press conference, Mr Tan announced that letters have been sent to 24 mall operators such as CapitaLand, Frasers, Mapletree to request for lower rentals for the months of February to April.

“Looking at the situation right now, we are hoping for at least 50 per cent rental rebate for the first three months,” Mr Tan said.

Out of the 24 mall operators, none have committed to a rental rebate, however, some have said that they would increase marketing attempts to attract more customers.

For instance, they would try to provide free parking to attract customers.

Separately, Jewel Changi Airport has offered its tenants a 50% rental rebate for February and March before the letters were sent out.

RAS has also asked the Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing to suspend the foreign worker levy, wage support by covering half the employers’ Central Provident Fund contributions and higher access to working capital loans.

According to a poll by RAS, 60% of its members revealed that they were not prepared for nor equipped to hand the effects of the novel coronavirus outbreak which has caused a sharp fall in customers.