Voluntary Rent Reduction 'Good Landlord Support Program' Extended for Applications Until the End of September

Seoul City to Provide Up to 5 Million Won for Building Repair Costs, Commercial Disinfection, Disinfection Supplies, and Promotion Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 19th that it will extend the application deadline for the 'Seoul-type Good Landlord Support Project,' which encourages building owners to voluntarily reduce rent to help tenants suffering from the dual hardships of plummeting sales and high rent burdens due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), until September 29. This is the third round following the first and second recruitments in April and May.

The Seoul-type Good Landlord Project is a system that supports stores with a converted deposit amount (monthly rent × 100 + deposit) of 900 million KRW or less. When landlords and tenants sign a rent reduction mutual agreement, up to 5 million KRW within 30% of the total reduction amount is provided for building maintenance and electrical safety inspection costs.

In addition to cost support, the project provides weekly regular disinfection of commercial buildings and disinfection supplies to maintain a safe environment, and promotes stores using a smartphone real estate app.

Especially, considering the recent resurgence of COVID-19, landlords and tenants selected in this third round will additionally receive a set of disinfection supplies such as masks, hand sanitizers, and thermometers. Disinfection supplies will also be separately delivered to landlords and stores selected in the first and second rounds.

Since the second recruitment, Seoul has simplified the application documents, which previously required signatures from all tenants in the commercial building as well as the landlord, to require only the landlord's signature. Convenience has also been improved by diversifying proof of building maintenance costs to include credit card sales slips or cash receipts when it is difficult to submit tax invoices from companies.

Applications for the Seoul-type Good Landlord Support Project can be submitted to the local district office where the store is located after the landlord and tenant sign a rent reduction mutual agreement, along with application documents (tenant’s business registration certificate, copy of lease contract, and estimate). For more details, search for 'Good Landlord' on the local district office website.

Additionally, for stores with a converted deposit amount exceeding 900 million KRW that reduced rent but could not receive support for building maintenance costs, Seoul plans to support promotion using smartphone real estate apps. The 'Good Landlord' icon will be displayed on app lists or maps to instill a positive image of the stores among local residents, and events utilizing this will also be held.

Meanwhile, Seoul decided to provide 686 million KRW in building maintenance costs, electrical safety inspection costs, and disinfection support to 288 landlords (2,317 stores with mutual agreements) selected in the first recruitment (April 10?24). It also plans to support 490 million KRW to a total of 215 landlords (773 stores with mutual agreements) who participated in the second recruitment (May 1?29).

Seo Seong-man, Director of Labor and Livelihood Policy at Seoul City, said, "We hope that tenants and landlords facing difficulties such as rent burdens due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic will wisely overcome this crisis through the Seoul-type Good Landlord mutual agreement."

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