Property News: Pausing Property and Business Loans, Property Tax Rebates for Tenants

COVID-19: Payment of Property and Business Loans Can Be on Pause

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) with the backing of the financial industry, aims to offer relief to households and firms during the economic downturn caused by COVID-19.

Individuals and firms can choose to pause payment of property, business loans, and insurance premiums.

Here are some measures to ease the cash-flow crunch:

• Individuals can apply to their insurer to temporarily stop paying premiums for their life and health insurance plans for up to six months.
• Individuals can seek to pay lower interest on unsecured credit if, for example, one’s monthly income has fallen by 25 per cent or more.
• Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may defer principal payments on secured term loans until Dec 31. Over $40 billion of existing loan facilities to SMEs could qualify for relief.

However, borrowers and policyholders should weigh their options carefully as deferring payments increases future obligations, as mentioned by the MAS.

Source: The Straits Times

Resilience Budget: Non-Residential Landlords to Give Property Tax Rebates to Their Tenants

Landlords should work together with their tenants and view each other as “long-term partners” to ensure they can best share the benefits of the Resilience Budget for long-term sustainability.

It is difficult for the government to come up with approaches to ensure rebates are passed on to tenants, because of the existence of varying types of rental arrangements that currently exist between landlords and tenants.

“Many businesses have pointed out that it will be a lose-lose situation if landlords do not support their tenants. After all, if tenants fail, the properties will be empty,” said Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing.

Source: The Business Times