Debated in Parliament on 14 Oct 2025.
Mr Shawn Loh asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Government's position that property vacancies are adequately deterred by market-based disincentives such as holding costs and forgone income applies similarly across (i) different commercial property types, such as shophouses, strata retail, and older malls and (ii) is different for residential developers; and (b) what is the vacancy percentage or duration threshold above which the Government will intervene.
Mr Shawn Loh asked the Minister for National Development whether the Government can make freely available more localised retail rental data at the unit-level, similar to residential transaction data, in order to provide tenants with more clarity for business planning and renewal negotiations.
Mr Shawn Loh asked the Minister for National Development whether the Government can publish retail rent and vacancy trends on a monthly basis at a more granular level (i) by URA Planning Area, (ii) across different property types such as shophouses, centrally-managed malls, strata retail, HDB sold shops, and (iii) by property sizes, to better inform public discourse.
Vacancy rates for commercial and residential properties have generally remained stable over the past three years. Landlords of both commercial and residential properties are unlikely to leave their properties vacant for too long, given the costs and forgone rental income of doing so.
The Government considers a variety of factors when assessing the state of the commercial and residential market, including property market indicators, as well as the broader economic outlook. Focusing solely on vacancy rates may not be appropriate as they can vary across property segments and over time due to cyclical shifts in demand.
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