Owners of Hong Kong malls are reducing rents and introducing other measures to help retailers as they struggle with falling footfalls in the wake of protests and now the coronavirus outbreak.

Sun Hung Kai Properties, along with several other retail landlords in the territory, are offering rental concessions and other relief initiatives to tenants during the coronavirus outbreak.

Rental costs during February will be lowered 30–50 per cent for most retailers operating out of Sun Hung Kai malls, in a move to protect jobs and help stabilise the economy. 

Metro station mall operator MTR Corp will also offer lower rentals during the affected period, while Link Reit has established an HK$80 million (US$10.3 million) fund to allow rents to be paid in instalments along with other rent-relief initiatives.

The coronavirus outbreak has seen a sharp drop in Hong Kong’s retail sector, a loss that hits hard after months of negative impact brought on by last year’s political protests.