No change in Hyfa rent despite new operating rules

SINGAPORE — There will be no change in how much rent Home United Football Club (HUFC) has to pay for its Home United Youth Football Academy (Hyfa) despite the new operating hours and guidelines imposed on the training facility, TODAY understands.

Monthly rental of the area which the 2.5ha facility is situated on is understood to be in excess of S$30,000.

However, while Hyfa previously could use its two 11-a-side pitches for full-day activities and lease them to commercial entities such as local football academy JSSL Singapore, which was one of its main clients, they now cannot do so under the new guidelines.

Hyfa’s total operating costs, including rent to Singapore Land Authority (SLA), are around S$50,000 per month. It is estimated that even with the latest guidelines, Hyfa will lose at least S$15,000 monthly in potential earnings.

It was only in the middle of last year that HUFC extended their lease for Hyfa with the SLA to 2019.

SLA did not reply to TODAY’s queries by press time, while HUFC declined to comment on this matter.

JSSL Singapore has since relocated to The Arena at Woodleigh Park but its managing director Harvey Davis remains upset at how the situation was handled.

“What they (SLA) did and the way they did it, is to me, unacceptable and a disgrace,” Davis told TODAY.

“If they had given us two months’ grace after imposing the restrictions in December, that would have been proper business etiquette ... we would have understood and accepted it in a business sense.

“Now, they are just acting retroactively, because of the feedback and uproar over the fact that they are shutting down something which is supposed to be for sport, and the manner in which they did it.

“So while I can understand why they are doing it, I still don’t think it’s very fair in relation to private organisations like ourselves.” NOAH TAN