Government of Sweden : proposes new period of State aid when certain commercial tenants receive a rent rebate

To mitigate the economic impacts of the increasing spread of the virus, the Government proposes that the State aid measure in support of certain commercial tenants receiving a rent rebate - introduced in spring 2020 - be reintroduced for January-March 2021, i.e. for a further three months. This measure is temporary and designed for companies in certain vulnerable customer-facing sectors that have been hit hard financially by the pandemic. The proposal for reintroducing this State aid measure is based on an agreement between the government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party.

Due to the increasing spread of the virus in the community and the adverse financial impacts on many businesses, the Government proposes the reintroduction of State aid for commercial rental costs. It is proposed that, as in April-June 2020, the measure be directed at retail businesses, the hotel and restaurant industry, and certain other customer-facing industries and services based on physical proximity to customers.

The complete list of proposed industries to be covered by the reintroduction of the State aid measure is published below.

The measure is designed so that landlords who reduce the fixed rent for their tenants for 1 January-31 March 2021 will receive compensation for 50 per cent of the rent reduction. In other respects, the rent rebate scheme will be the same as the previous one.

The Government is working to ensure that this measure will be in place as soon as possible; however, as this is a matter of State aid, the measure must first be approved by the European Commission.

The Government will be making more information available about the design of the rent rebate scheme and upcoming application processes.