Rental Rates for Hawker Stalls at Centres Managed by NEA and Social Enterprises

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what are the median, lowest and highest rental fees for hawker stalls managed by NEA and social enterprises respectively; and (b) whether the Ministry can provide the breakdown, in percentage terms, of the operating expenses for hawker stalls operated under these two different management models.

The stall rentals at the seven new hawker centres managed by the Socially-conscious Enterprises range from $750 to $3,700 a month. The median rental is $2,000 per month. This is in line with the median rental of stalls in comparable existing hawker centres at $1,700 per month, after accounting for the larger stall size, better-designed stalls and amenities at the new centres. The rentals of non-subsidised stalls at comparable existing centres range from $640 to $3,900 a month.

Besides rental, stallholders in all hawker centres have similar types of ancillary costs, such as Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) and table-cleaning fees, as part of their business operations. These costs are comparable at both new and existing centres. For example, the S&CC at the new centres are between $110 and $350 a month, which are within the range of $130 to $450 a month at our existing centres. Table-cleaning fees at the new centres are between $300 and $550 a month, which are also within the range of $200 to $830 a month at our existing centres.

Table cleaning services do not cover washing of dishes. Unlike stallholders in the majority of existing centres, stallholders in the new centres have access to centralised dishwashing (CDW) services and thus enjoy manpower and utilities savings. CDW services also enhance the cleanliness of the hawker centres and the rate of table turnover, which benefit both hawkers and patrons. Stallholders can focus on their cooking as they need not worry about hiring assistants to wash their crockeries. On the other hand, stallholders without access to CDW may have to hire dishwashers which could cost up to $1,500 a month, not to mention that these hawkers often have difficulties hiring and retaining such hawker assistants.

In November last year, we explained in the House on the need for hawkers to be more productive. This is to overcome the labour constraints that the hawkers will increasingly face and can go a long way in sustaining our hawker trade to serve the needs of Singaporeans. To help the hawkers in new centres better manage costs, we are extending the Productive Hawker Centre grants to them. From 1 January this year, the stallholders will see a 50% reduction in their CDW costs for the first year and 30% for the second year.

As for other operating expenses incurred directly by stallholders, such as utilities, manpower and raw materials, these would vary from stall to stall depending on factors, such as the nature of business and market conditions.