Cash-strapped small Hong Kong landlords to be offered interest-free loans as part of new government policy for delayed rent collection
- Financial Secretary Paul Chan says authorities will offer small commercial property owners three months’ worth of rent on their tenants’ behalf, of up to HK$100,000
- Government to work with banks to determine which landlords qualify for interest-free loans, dependent on status of income and assets, he adds
The Hong Kong government will offer interest-free loans to small commercial property owners affected by its latest anti-epidemic policy that could prevent them from collecting rent for up to six months, the city’s finance chief has said.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Saturday said authorities would step in to pay struggling landlords three months’ worth of rent on their tenants’ behalf, subject to a ceiling of up to HK$100,000 (US$12,806), as they implemented the rent-collection delay policy aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses affected by the recent coronavirus outbreak.
The new measure, announced on Wednesday when Chan unveiled the city’s annual budget, would require the Legislative Council to pass a law forbidding landlords for up to six months from terminating the leases of, halting services for, or taking legal action against “tenants of specified sectors” that failed to pay their rent on time.
Days after he unveiled the unprecedented move, Chan said the policy was intended to only target prominent commercial property owners and land developers.
“Small landlords are not the intended target of the policy,” the finance chief told a radio programme on Saturday.
“If they are struggling, we can offer interest-free loans to them through banks just like what we are doing with people who are unemployed,” he said.
