Difference between Median Monthly Rent for Hawker Stalls in 2023 and Those Tendered Out before 2023
Ministry of Sustainability and the EnvironmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Ms Hazel Poa's inquiry regarding the difference in median monthly rentals for hawker stalls in 2023 versus those tendered in earlier years at National Environment Agency (NEA) and Socially-conscious Enterprise Hawker Centres (SEHCs). Minister Grace Fu Hai Yien reported that 2023 successful NEA tenders had a $1,800 median rent, while the overall median for non-subsidised NEA stalls remained stable at $1,250 from 2015 to 2023. She noted that NEA adjusts rentals towards the Assessed Market Rent after the initial three-year term, whereas SEHC rentals are proposed upfront by operators and reached a median of $1,700 in 2023. Unlike NEA's monthly bidding system, SEHC operators are prohibited from varying rents during the tenancy term or subjecting them to bidding. The Minister concluded that rental variations are driven by market factors including location, stall size, food types, and competition from other food and beverage outlets.
Transcript
13 Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment what is the difference between the median monthly rent for hawker stalls in 2023 and the median monthly rent for hawker stalls tendered out (i) up to three years ago (ii) between three to six years ago and (iii) more than nine years ago, with a breakdown by those managed by NEA and those at the Socially-conscious Enterprise Hawker Centres.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: The National Environment Agency (NEA) puts vacant cooked food stalls at its hawker centres up for tender every month to ensure that stalls are allocated in a fair and transparent manner. The median rent for successful tenders was around $1,800 in 2023. Under NEA's policy, the rental of successfully tendered stalls are adjusted towards the Assessed Market Rent at the end of their initial three-year tenancy term. As a result, the median monthly rent for all non-subsidised cooked food stalls in hawker centres managed by NEA has remained relatively stable at around $1,250 between 2015 and 2023.
At Socially-conscious Enterprise Hawker Centres (SEHCs), stall rentals are proposed upfront by SEHC operators in their tender bids to NEA. The operators are not allowed to vary hawkers' rent over their tenancy term or subject the stall rentals to bidding. As of 2023, there were 12 SEHCs in operation and the median stall rent is $1,700.
There are many factors, such as location, stall sizes, food types and competition from other food and beverage outlets in the vicinity, that attribute to the varying rentals.