This file photo shows landlords of Jeonju Hanok Village posing with a written agreement to cut rents by up to 20 percent. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 16 (Korea Bizwire) — The rent reduction campaign, in which landlords lower store rents for small business owners affected by the new coronavirus outbreak is spreading throughout the country.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Wednesday that 3,425 property owners in individual shopping complexes and 513 in traditional markets across the country had slashed or frozen rents at a total of 30,044 stores as of April 9.
By region, the rent reduction campaign was most popular in Busan, with 751 landlords participating, followed by Seoul with 547, South Gyeongsang Province with 461 and Gyeonggi Province with 209.
Counting the number of stores benefiting from the campaign, Seoul had the largest number of beneficiaries with 10,455 stores, followed by South Jeolla Province with 3,893, Busan with 3,171 and Jeju with 2,427.
Meanwhile, based on the number of renters, the rate of reduction was often 20 to 30 percent, and the period of rent reduction was typically two to three months.
“Bearing in mind that a considerable number of landlords are reluctant to reveal the details of rent cuts, there are actually more property owners who have lowered their rent,” a government official said.
The ministry plans to provide fire safety equipment, including installing sprinklers and replacing old wires in traditional markets and shopping districts where more than 20 percent of all stores have benefited from reduced rent.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
