Hong Kong urges property developers to cut rent for retailers

Hysan Development

11/10/2019 10:27

HONG KONG, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's financial chief
urged landlords and property developers on Friday to offer rent
subsidies to retailers and food and beverage businesses
suffering after four months of protests that have dented tourism
and consumer spending.
    The comments followed a similar call for relief for
businesses by the city's chief executive, Carrie Lam, this week.
    On Tuesday, Lam said the number of tourists to Hong Kong in
the first week of October, when China celebrated its National
Day holiday, plummeted more than 50% from a year ago. 
    The "Golden Week" break is normally a boon for Hong Kong
businesses, with visitors from mainland China arriving in large
numbers.
    But official data last week showed Hong Kong's August retail
sales were the worst on record, falling 23% from a year earlier.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26G29J
    "We hereby urge landlords and property developers to
actively consider launching rent reduction schemes to assist the
retail sector during this severe time," Financial Secretary Paul
Chan told a news conference.
    He said MTR Corp  0066.HK , which runs the city's metro
system and is about 75% owned by the government, was offering
rent adjustments to some small- and medium-sized stores that had
been affected.
    Some in the industry have said that landlords are not doing
enough to help ease the pain.
    "I understand that property developers may want to adopt
stimulus measures to boost the economy and sales, but based on
the situation in our society, stimulus measures are less
effective to relieve our pressure," said Annie Yau Tse, chairman
of Hong Kong Retail Management Association.
    "To assist the retail sector during this severe time, we
think the most effective means would be to cut rents or provide
us a sufficient rent-free period."
    Sun Hung Kai Properties  0016.HK , the city's biggest
property developer by value, called on the government to
introduce relief measures for big and small landlords, and to
work with industry to help ease the situation.
    The developer said it would provide case-by-case assistance
to its tenants.
    Henderson Land  0012.HK  and Hysan Development  0014.HK ,
both major shopping mall landlords, said they had offered some
tenants temporary rental adjustments and launched promotions to
attract more customers.

 (Reporting by Felix Tam and Clare Jim
Editing by Karishma Singh, Robert Birsel)
 ((clare.jim@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2912 6653; Reuters
Messaging: clare.jim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))