Seoul City to Reduce Rent and Common Maintenance Fees for Over 10,000 Public Market Stores Until Year-End

Subway and Underground Shopping Mall Rent Payment Deferral and Other Support Effects Totaling 29.4 Billion Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 20th that it will reduce rent by 50% and waive common maintenance fees for public commercial stores owned by the city and investment/subsidiary institutions for four months from this month to December. A total of 10,183 stores located near underground passages and subway shopping areas are eligible for support.

The city will reduce rent by 50% for small businesses and small merchants operating in these stores and temporarily waive the labor costs for security guards and cleaners, which are part of the common maintenance fees, for four months. The total expected support effect is approximately 29.43 billion KRW, including about 27.88 billion KRW in rent and up to 1.55 billion KRW in maintenance fees.

The payment deadline for city-owned property rent will also be extended until December within the usage and lease period. This support measure defers the rent payment deadline until the end of the year for tenants of city-owned properties who face a heavy payment burden by paying annual rent in a lump sum.

Businesses wishing to receive support can submit a certificate verifying their status as small businesses or small merchants to the institution managing the commercial stores for confirmation.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, sales of small merchants in Seoul decreased by 37% year-on-year from the 31st of last month to the 6th of this month. In March of this year, when the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was in its early spread, sales of small merchants in Seoul decreased by 25% year-on-year, but the decline rate dropped to the 30% range starting from the first week of September.

In a survey of 3,415 small merchants nationwide, 69.9% of respondents cited "rent" as the most burdensome expense after the resurgence of COVID-19. This is more than a 30 percentage point increase from the response rate (38.6%) in the survey conducted in early April, indicating that rent is the biggest burden for small merchants' business activities.

Jo In-dong, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "We hope this livelihood economic measure will be like rain in a drought, practically alleviating the difficulties of small businesses and small merchants," and added, "We are also preparing additional livelihood economic measures."