Seoul Extends Up to 30% Rent Reduction for Small Businesses on Public Property with Declining Sales

20-30% Rent Reduction Rate Applied This Year
Support Expected to Reach 31.7 Billion Won... Applications Open This Month

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will extend its rent reduction measures for tenants of public properties until the end of this year to ease the management burden on small business owners.

Image of an underground shopping center.

Small businesses and SMEs operating on leased public property whose sales have decreased compared to the previous year will be eligible for a 20% to 30% reduction in this year's rent. They may also receive a deferral of rent payments and up to a 50% reduction in late fees.

The city will support small businesses and SMEs that have seen a decline in sales compared to the previous year among the 4,482 stores renting city-owned underground shopping malls, park facilities, and parking lot annexes. The total amount of support through one year of the reduction program is expected to reach 31.7 billion won.

The rent reduction rate—20% to 30% of the rent for January through December of this year—will be applied according to the degree of sales decline compared to the previous year, with a maximum annual support cap of 20 million won per store.

Applications for rent reduction will be accepted after guidance is provided by each relevant department in charge of leasing, scheduled for August.

Lim Jaekeun, Director-General of Finance at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, stated, "We have decided to extend the rent reduction to lessen the burden on small business owners, who are facing a double hardship from high inflation and sluggish consumption." He added, "We expect that these reductions will help restore business operations for small business tenants of public property and revitalize the local economy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.