Extension of State-Owned Property Rent Relief for Small Businesses and SMEs by One Year

The government will extend measures to ease the rent burden of state-owned and public properties for small business owners and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by another year to support their economic recovery.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on December 30 that they will revise the relevant notifications to implement these measures.

Accordingly, until the end of next year, the usage fee for state-owned properties will be reduced from 3% to 1% for small business owners, and from 5% to 3% for SMEs. For public properties, the fee can be reduced to as low as 1%, subject to the review of the Public Property Review Committee.

The measure to ease the rent burden of state-owned properties for small business owners and SMEs has been in effect since April 2020, supporting a total of 25,996 cases and 13.83 billion won. The measure for public properties was implemented in January this year, supporting 31,234 cases and 8.71 billion won.

In addition to lowering the rent rates, the government will also provide support such as rent payment deferrals and reductions in late fees. For state-owned properties, payment can be deferred for up to six months, while for public properties, the deferral can be up to one year. Late fees for state-owned properties will be reduced to 5% of the usage fee, and for public properties, to between 3.5% and 5%.

The revised notifications are scheduled to take effect on January 1 of next year. The government plans to strengthen cooperation with frontline agencies and local governments to ensure the smooth implementation of these measures in line with the revised notifications.