BTO: Sentosa's tenants get 15% rent rebate

Business Times - 18 Mar 2009

Sentosa's tenants get 15% rent rebate

SDC joins other govt agencies in channelling savings from property tax rebates

By UMA SHANKARI

 

SENTOSA Development Corporation said yesterday it will give its tenants a 15 per cent rent rebate.

 

The move - backdated to Jan 1 and effective until the end of this year - will benefit 47 tenants who run attractions, beach pubs, food and beverage and retail outlets, and other businesses such as bicycle hire kiosks.

 

They will get monthly rent rebates of between $180 and $3,000. About 80 per cent of tenants on the island will benefit. The other 20 per cent, who pay property tax direct to the government, will not be eligible as they will benefit from the government's property tax rebate.

 

In January, the government said owners of industrial and commercial property will get a 40 per cent tax rebate this year.

 

Similar measures to help tenants were put in place during the last economic recession in 1997-98 and the Sars outbreak in 2003, Sentosa said.

 

It joins other government agencies - such as the Housing and Development Board, Singapore Land Authority, JTC Corporation and National Environment Agency - in giving tenants 15 per cent rent rebates.

 

'Sentosa is channelling the savings we will get from the government's property tax rebates back to our island partners,' said Mike Barclay, chief executive of Sentosa Development Corporation.

 

'These rebates are consistent with our wider objective of working with our island partners to create irresistible value for all guests visiting Sentosa.'

 

In the coming months, Sentosa will also spearhead several sales and marketing campaigns on behalf of its tenants.