COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 · Updated to 1 Jul 2026 · Part 12 · Rental Waiver Due to COVID-19 Event in 2021
94. Rental waiver
Last amended by an amending law of 2021.
Official textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
Subject to Division 3 and regulations made under section 107, the following (called in this Part the rental waiver) are treated as waived for a tenant (whether or not a PTO) in a PTO chain for a prescribed property on the date (called in this section the service date) mentioned in subsection (2):
tenant
“tenant”, for any property, includes a lessee, sub-lessee, licensee or sub-licensee for that property, but excludes a person or class of persons prescribed as not being a tenant or tenants.
the prescribed amount of rent payable for a prescribed period under the lease agreement for the prescribed property between the tenant and the tenant’s landlord in the PTO chain;
any interest or other charge (however described) payable under the lease agreement on the amount waived under paragraph (a).
For a tenant mentioned in subsection (1), the service date is —
where the documents required to be served on the tenant’s landlord in the PTO chain under section 93 are served on the tenant’s landlord on the same date — that date; or
where the documents required to be served on the tenant’s landlord in the PTO chain under section 93 are served on the tenant’s landlord on different dates — the date on which the last of the documents is served on the tenant’s landlord.
If subsection (1) applies to a tenant in a PTO chain for a prescribed property, then, despite any law or anything in the lease agreement for the prescribed property between the tenant and the tenant’s landlord in the PTO chain —
PTO chain
“PTO chain”, for a PTO of a prescribed property, means a chain of landlords and tenants of that property ending with the PTO;
the tenant is not liable for rent that is payable under the lease agreement for the prescribed period of an amount up to the prescribed amount, and for any interest or other charge payable under the lease agreement on that amount;
if the tenant has already paid to the tenant’s landlord any rent for all or any part of the prescribed period (including any interest or other charge on such rent) under the lease agreement, then the rent payable by the tenant for the remaining period of the lease agreement is reduced by the amount paid up to the amount waived for the tenant under subsection (1) (called in this subsection the deductible amount), in the order described in paragraph (c);
for the purposes of paragraph (b), the rent payable for the earliest period of time under the lease agreement is reduced first, followed by the rent payable for the next earliest period and so on; and
if paragraph (b) is inapplicable, or there is any balance of the deductible amount remaining after any reduction under that paragraph, the tenant’s landlord must immediately refund to the tenant the deductible amount or the balance, and the deductible amount or the balance is recoverable from the tenant’s landlord as a debt due to the tenant.
Terms defined in this Act
landlord
Defined · s 19B“landlord”, for any property, includes a lessor, sub-lessor, licensor or sub-licensor for that property, but excludes a person or class of persons prescribed as not being a landlord or landlords;
lease agreement
Defined · s 19B“lease agreement”, for any property, includes a lease or licence for that property;
prescribed period
Defined · s 2“prescribed period” —(a)in relation to Part 1 or 3 — means the period prescribed under section 3 as extended or shortened under that section for Part 1 or 3; and(b)in relation to any scheduled contract in Part 2 — means the period prescribed under section 3 as extended or shortened under that section for that Part or for a description of contracts to which that contract belongs, as the case may be;
prescribed property
Defined · s 19B“prescribed property” means any prescribed non-residential property or any property belonging to a prescribed class of non-residential property, and includes any part of such property;
PTO
Defined · s 19B“prescribed tenant-occupier” or “PTO” means a tenant of any prescribed property who satisfies the prescribed criteria and who is an occupier of the property;
PTO chain
Defined · s 19B“PTO chain”, for a PTO of a prescribed property, means a chain of landlords and tenants of that property ending with the PTO;
rent
Defined · s 19B“rent” includes licence fee and any matter that is prescribed as being rent, but excludes any service charge and maintenance charge and any other matter that is prescribed as not being rent;
tenant
Defined · s 19B“tenant”, for any property, includes a lessee, sub-lessee, licensee or sub-licensee for that property, but excludes a person or class of persons prescribed as not being a tenant or tenants.