Rent hikes at Goodman Arts Centre to be deferred amid increased economic uncertainty from Middle East conflict

Higher rental rates at Goodman Arts Centre initially planned for 2026 will be deferred to support tenants amid heightened economic uncertainty due to ongoing Middle East tensions, said Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Baey Yam Keng.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday (April 8), Baey was responding to a question by Mountbatten MP Gho Sze Kee who asked if there were any measures in place to help tenants as rental prices were set to "increase significantly".

Rental rates at Goodman Arts Centre are decided by Arts House Group (AHG), a public company under the National Arts Council (NAC).

Goodman Arts Centre houses a total of 77 units — including short-term venues and longer-term housing options. 

Out of the lot, 26 are project studios offering flexible short-term tenancies of up to 12 months for artists who have project-specific needs. The remaining 51 units are under the Framework for Arts Spaces scheme, which supports arts groups for up to nine years, and is subsidised by NAC by up to 80 per cent.

Baey said rental rates for the short-term project studios were last reviewed in 2012, and AHG has absorbed rising operational costs since then.

AHG began engaging arts tenants on a rate increase for "greater sustainability", but will defer rate hikes and review the rates at the end of this year for 2027, he added.

Longer-term support for the arts

Gho also asked if the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) had any longer-term plans to ensure that affordable creative workspaces remain accessible to arts practitioners.

"NAC is studying the sector's longer-term needs and has been engaging and consulting the arts sector on their spatial needs and affordability of arts spaces," Baey replied, adding that NAC will take steps to ensure the accessibility and affordability of arts spaces.

"In considering the need for any rates adjustment, NAC takes into account rising operational costs for the maintenance of these spaces and the need to ensure that the revised rates remain affordable compared to other commercial spaces in the vicinity and other arts spaces," he said.

At the same time, Baey noted that NAC provides support for artists and arts groups through existing grants, such as the Creation Grant, which entails up to $50,000 of funding meant to support the creation process of performing, visual, literary, digital and multi-disciplinary art forms.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com 

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