2024年9月9日，新加坡永续发展与环境部高级政务部长许宝琨医生在国会答复杨厝港单选区议员叶汉荣有关小贩摊位租金上涨对食品可负担性的影响问题。
以下内容为新加坡眼根据国会英文资料翻译整理：
16 叶汉荣（（杨厝港单选区议员））先生就最近小贩摊位租金创纪录超过每月 10,000 新元一事询问永续发展与环境部长：
(a) 这是否意味着小贩摊位租金上涨的趋势？
(b) 这种趋势对新加坡人的食物可负担性和可获得性有何影响？
许宝琨医生（永续发展与环境部高级政务部长，代表部长)：议长先生，国家环境局 (NEA) 通过每月的招标活动出租小贩摊位，招标活动透明且公平。投标人根据各种商业考虑因素提交标书，例如客户资料、地点的人流、预期客流量和营业时间。国家环境局不会为这些招标设定任何底价租金或最低投标价格。因此，如果有人认为这个地方的特色不值得这么高的价格，他们也没有压力出价更高。
最近，马林百列中心小贩中心熟食档的招标吸引了40多份标书。投标竞争相当激烈，前五名的出价都在 8,000 新元以上。总体而言，这是一个非常受欢迎的中心，因为它全天营业三餐，人流量很大，特别是考虑到最近新地铁站的启用以及该中心附近的其他开发项目。
虽然有几个热门地点的摊位吸引了高价竞标，但我必须解释一下，如此高的投标价格并常见。2023 年，小贩中心熟食档位的中标价中位数约为 1,800 新元。在2023年，约五分之一的熟食档位的中标价在500新元或以下。
根据国家环境局的调查，平均而言，2022年租金占摊主运营成本的不足10%，而原材料和人力分别占其运营成本的56%和20%。尽管如此，国家环境局还是采取了各种措施来缓和小贩摊位的租金。除了不为投标设定底价租金和不允许转租外，投标租金也会在第一个三年租期后调整为通过独立专业评估确定的评估市值租金。由于采取了各种措施，我国小贩中心非补贴熟食摊位的月租金中位数约为1,250新元，自2015年以来一直维持在这个水平。国家环境局将继续密切监测小贩摊位租金情况。
议长：有请叶汉荣先生。
叶汉荣先生（杨厝港单选区议员）：谢谢议长先生。谢谢高级政务部长的答复。虽然重点是消费者的食品负担能力，但该部如何评估提高小贩摊位租金对小企业主和有志于进入小贩行业的新手的影响？在租金上涨的情况下，为这些群体提供了哪些的支持？
许宝琨医生（永续发展与环境部高级政务部长，代表部长)：议长先生，谢谢这位议员的提问。就摊位租金压力而言，国家环境局确实为小贩提供了有利的环境，包括确保小贩中心的租金保持在合理和负担得起的水平。因此，举例来说，国家环境局已采取一系列措施，确保小贩中心的租金公平和非投机性。正如我在之前的回复中提到的，这包括禁止转租或转让小贩摊档，以防止摊主作出寻租行为。因此，他们基本上只是将更高的租金转嫁给下一个想从他们那里转租的人——而这是我们不允许的。
此外，正如我所提到的，国家环境局的措施包括采用透明和公平的月度招标。因此，自2012年3月以来，在空置店铺招标中取消了底价租金，以使摊位租金能够根据人们的投标情况充分反映市场行情。
虽然没有最低投标价限制，但有些人可能会出价较高，以争取到较受欢迎地点的摊位。此外，我还想提一下，目前只有约4%的小贩中心熟食店所支付的租金高于评估市值租金。对于其余 6,000 多名摊主，他们支付的租金不高于评估的市值租金。
事实上，对于一些新的小贩中心，在“具有社会意识的企业小贩中心管理模式”下，国家环境局将全面考虑投标建议，包括小贩将承担的总成本，然后才将标书授予经营者。此后，中标者必须在整个租期内保持向摊主收取的相同费率。因此，对许多摊位经营者来说，成本确定性更高。
自2019年9月起，新小贩中心的经营者还须分期支付头两年的摊位租金，分别为80%和90%，第三年摊主才支付全部租金。这样做的目的是帮助摊主在小贩中心开业的头两年逐步建立客源，以管理运营成本。
至于那些在第一个租期内出价很高的档主，例如出价10,000新元或8,000新元的摊主，这一价格将维持不变。但在第一个租期结束后，这一价格将调整为市场评估租金，约为1,800新元至1,500新元左右。因此，从长远来看，这将有助于小贩在下一个租期内更持久地维持这一价格。[请参阅 “永续发展与环境部高级政务部长的澄清”，官方报告，2024年9月9 日，第 95 卷，第 140期，书面声明更正部分。］
以下是英文质询内容：
Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment regarding the recent record-breaking hawker stall rent exceeding $10,000 per month (a) whether this signifies a trend of escalating hawker stall rentals; and (b) what impact will such a trend have on food affordability and accessibility for Singaporeans.
The Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment): Sir, the National Environment Agency (NEA) lets out hawker stalls through monthly tender exercises, which are transparent and fair. Tenderers submit bids based on various business considerations, such as client profiles, the footfall of the location, expected patronage, and operating hours. NEA does not set any reserve rent or minimum bid price for these tenders. So, there is no pressure for people to bid higher if they feel that the characteristic of the place does not warrant such high price.
The recent tender for the cooked food stall at Marine Parade Central Hawker Centre attracted over 40 bids. The bids were quite competitive, with the top five bids above $8,000. Overall, this is a very popular centre as it is open for three meals throughout the day and has good footfall, especially given the recent opening of a new MRT station and additional developments that are near this centre.
While a few stalls at popular locations have attracted high bids, I must explain that such high tender prices are not the norm. The median successful tender price for cooked food stalls across hawker centres was about $1,800 in 2023. About one in five cooked food stalls were also awarded at tender prices at or below $500 in 2023.
Based on NEA’s survey, on average, rental forms less than 10% of operating costs for stallholders, compared to raw materials and manpower which accounted for 56% and 20% of their operating costs respectively in 2022. Nonetheless, NEA has various measures in place to moderate hawker stall rents. Besides not setting a reserve rent for tenders and disallowing subletting, tendered rents are also adjusted after the first tenancy term of three years towards an assessed market rent determined through independent professional valuation. As a result of the various measures, the median monthly rent of a non-subsidised cooked food stall across our hawker centres is about $1,250 and it has remained at this level since 2015. NEA will continue to monitor hawker stall rentals closely.
Mr Speaker: Mr Yip.
Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. While the focus has been on food affordability for consumers, how does the Ministry assess the impact of increasing hawker stall rentals on small business owners and aspiring new entrants into the hawker trade? And what are the kind of support that are given to these groups amidst these rental increases?
Dr Koh Poh Koon: Sir, I thank the Member for his question. As far as the stall rental pressures are concerned, NEA does provide hawkers with a conducive environment, including ensuring that rentals are kept reasonable and affordable at hawker centres. So, for example, NEA has put in place a series of measures to ensure that the rentals in our hawker centres are fair and not speculative. As I mentioned in my reply earlier, this includes disallowing subletting or assignment of hawker stores to prevent stallholders from engaging in rent-seeking behaviour. So, they basically just pass on the higher rent to the next guy who wants to sublet from them –and that is something that we disallow.
Also, NEA measures include adopting a transparent and fair monthly tender exercise, as I mentioned. Since March 2012, the reserve rent has therefore been removed in the tender of vacant stores to allow stall rentals to reflect fully the market conditions based on what people tendered.
While there are no minimum bid price restrictions, some may submit higher bids in order to secure the stalls at more popular locations. And let me just also mention that only about 4% of cooked food stores in hawker centres today are paying rent at above the assessed market rent. For the remaining over 6,000 stallholders, they are paying rent no higher than assessed market rent.
In fact, for some of our new hawker centres, under the Socially Conscious Enterprise Hawker Centre management model, NEA will take into consideration tender proposals holistically, including the total cost that hawkers will bear before we award the tender to the operator. And thereafter, the successful tenderer is required to maintain the same rates for charges collected from stallholders throughout the tenancy term. So, there is more cost certainty to many of the stall operators.
Since September 2019, operators of new hawker centres are also required to stagger their stall rentals for the first two years of the centre’s operations at 80% and 90% respectively, before stallholders pay the full rental costs in the third year. So, this is to help stallholders manage their operating costs as they gradually establish a clientele in that hawker centre over the first two years of their operation.
