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Mr Robert Wong, Chief Executive of Hongkong Land, said “As a company with deep roots in Hong Kong, we care deeply about the welfare of the city’s people and businesses as they contend with the latest wave of the pandemic. By working closely with an extensive range of NGOs and supporting our tenants through immediate and comprehensive rent relief measures, we hope that we can contribute to alleviating the hardships faced by the businesses and communities that we serve in our home in Hong Kong.”
Expanded support to tenants
Rent relief
Following the commitment of more than HK$420 million of rent relief between early 2020 and December 2021, Hongkong Land has expanded its assistance to retail tenants through a rent waiver and other support measures as Hong Kong continues to battle a fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tenants subject to mandatory closure by the government will see a full waiver of their rents, management fees and other charges during the closure period. Tenants from the food & beverage (F&B) sector will only pay turnover rents for a six-month period from 1st January to 30th June 2022. Rent relief will be granted to other tenants on a case-by-case basis, with a strong focus on more vulnerable small and medium sized businesses.
Other support
For F&B tenants who have been heavily impacted by the pandemic, Hongkong Land is also introducing a series of operational and promotional support measures. These include flexibility in operating hours to ease the stress of limited manpower and additional promotions to support their takeaway / delivery business. Additionally, a large-scale promotion programme to drive customer footfall and F&B sales will be launched later this year as pandemic restrictions ease.
New funds into Hongkong Land HOME FUND to support the underprivileged
Launched in November 2020, HOME FUND aims to empower the younger generations and assist those facing housing related challenges to help foster a more inclusive society. To help combat the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hongkong Land has injected HK$15 million into the HOME FUND to support community response programmes.
An initial HK$5 million has already been committed to support NGOs deliver food items and anti-pandemic supplies to the underprivileged, and to the launch of a special matching gift programme for tenants and employees.
Delivering hot meals, other food items and anti-pandemic necessities
HOME FUND is partnering with 30 NGOs to provide hot meals, food items and other anti-pandemic necessities to more than 72,000 underprivileged individuals in Hong Kong. Approximately 200,000 hot meals and 6,000 food bags will be distributed to the most vulnerable communities across all 18 districts of the city. In addition, 5,000 personal protective equipment items will be distributed to frontline welfare workers at NGOs.
Special matching gift programme for employees and tenants
Through HOME FUND, Hongkong Land has launched a special matching gift programme for tenants and employees to support Po Leung Kuk and Foodlink Foundation in their COVID-19 emergency support programmes. Donations from Hongkong Land have been increased from a 1:1 to 1.5:1 ratio to match those from employees and tenants, i.e., Hongkong Land will match HK$1,500 for a donation of HK$1,000, effective immediately to further amplify our contribution to Hong Kong’s anti-pandemic efforts.
Details on the response programme relating to the outstanding HK$10 million commitment will be announced in due course.
