SINGAPORE: A series of social media posts from the proprietor of FLOR Patisserie has received a lot of attention in the past few days, especially since they revolve around the high rental costs that many food and beverage establishments face in Singapore.
FLOR Patisserie is asking the government to intervene by way of introducing policies that would “create a fair playing ground for businesses and landlords”, arguing that at the moment, “landlords hold overwhelming negotiating power.”
While the bakery had initially only put up Stories, which have a limited airing time, the proprietor decided to put them up as posts so that others could help generate awareness of the issue of high rent increases and what they perceived to be a power imbalance between the business owners and landlords.
“This is something we feel we have to address as a small business in Singapore. We’ve been in business close to 16 years now, since 2010. We’ve had our ups and downs,” they wrote, including a manpower crisis that’s been ongoing since 2017, as well as higher food costs.
Rental rates, however, appear to be a next-level problem.
“But rent is one thing that kills you know? We may have started with a reasonable rent, put in the capital to make the space nice, then, upon renewal, a sharp increase upends everything. To move means to start over. Any profits made are channeled into the next renovation, and the cycle never ends,” they wrote, adding that they are tired of this and want to focus on baking delicious cakes, which is what they do best.
“We don’t need handouts from the government. We just want them to create an environment that small businesses like ours can thrive,” they added, even tagging Edwin Tong, their newly elected East Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) Member of Parliament, hoping he can help.
In the screenshots of the Instagram Stories they posted, they called on the government to recognise “that high rents directly impact the cost of goods sold. It impacts our everyday prices.”
As for high rentals, they understand that landlords raise them because high rental rates equal higher property prices.
They went on to suggest the following: A maximum six-month grace period in which a commercial property can be empty. After this time, a landlord would be fined 50% of the rent being asked for every month on the market.
“We are sure it will bring rents down super quick,” the post author wrote, adding that this way, taxpayers would not be additionally burdened with the support that businesses need.
“We want the government to implement sound and fair policies that nip these unfair practices in the bud. We also believe that with rent control policies in place, we can curb the inflation rate. Rent directly affects prices,” FLOR Patisserie added. /TISG
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