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The government is working to ensure "reasonable rentals" at Singapore's hawker centres.

In fact, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor highlighted that rental across non-subsidised cooked food stalls in Singapore has remained constant since 2018.

This was mentioned during the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment's (MSE) Committee of Supply (COS) debates on Mar. 2.

Hawker centres rentals

Khor was speaking in response to Member of Parliament Joan Pereira and Cheryl Chan's questions on the recent inflationary pressures and its impact on rental and cooked food prices.

According to Khor, stallholders who obtain their stalls through the National Environmental Agency (NEA)’s monthly tender exercises can bid for a stall at a monthly rental as low as S$1, while others may submit higher bids to secure stalls at popular locations.

Khor added that this is "a transparent and fair system" with no minimum bid.

Additionally, after the first three years, rent is adjusted towards the assessed market rent.

Khor pointed out that only about four per cent of cooked food stalls in hawker centres are now paying rent at above the assessed market rent.

The remaining stallholders, numbering over 5,600, are paying less than that amount.

She also highlighted that median rental across our non-subsidised cooked food stalls has remained constant at about S$1,250 since four years ago.

Stall rentals at hawker centres are actually "generally lower than most other comparable food establishments in their vicinity", Khor said.

She did note, however, that rental only accounts for about nine per cent of a hawker’s operating costs.

Previously, in a Facebook post in 2021, NEA said that rental revision upwards at tenancy renewals in hawker centres in recent years have not exceeded S$300.

NEA also stated that there were rental revisions downwards of more than S$300, upon tenancy renewals.

This was after Makansutra founder KF Seetoh said that hawkers' revised rent to NEA went up by 40 per cent during that time.

"It is misleading to look at percentage increases alone as a S$300 increase from a low rental will appear as a large percentage increase," they added.

Keeping food prices low

During her COS speech, Khor commented that hawkers look at multiple factors, including operating costs, location, business level, and patron demographics, to price their food.

"They delicately balance these factors to attract patrons, while trying to make a decent living."

Patrons at hawker centres can find affordable options such as at Socially-conscious Enterprise Hawker Centres (SEHCs), where "operators have committed to providing at least one budget meal option per stall".

To further help Singaporeans cope with rising inflation, the government previously announced during Budget that they will be issuing additional one-off support measures this year under the Assurance Package for lower income households.

This includes CDC and GST vouchers, the former of which can be used at hawker centres and coffee shops.

Khor shared that the government will continue monitoring the situation and consider if further support is needed.

Top photo via Google Maps