RENTS for Housing Board tenants has come down 5 per cent since January, Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu revealed on Monday.

This is for its commercial and industrial tenants and is in line with prevailing market rents, she said.

HDB will not, however, freeze all rentals, as 'a freeze on rent increases is not equitable as it will result in different rental subsidies for different tenants', said Ms Fu.

'It is also not advisable for HDB rents to be disconnected from market realities. A better approach to help businesses during the economic downturn is to provide rental rebates,' she said.

She was responding to a question by Ms Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio GRC) in Parliament on whether HDB and JTC will put freeze all rentals.

As announced in the Budget, HDB and JTC are giving a 15 per cent rebate for its commercial and industrial tenants for 2009, said Ms Fu.