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Can I Ask for a Rent Reduction?
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Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures in each region has affected the normal use of houses and apartments by their tenants to some extent. The house we are referring to here, include commercial office buildings, shop houses, and residential houses restricted to be entered by non-local personnel.
自从新冠疫情爆发以来，各地疫情防控措施的实施在一定程度上对承租方正常使用房屋造成了影响，包括商业办公楼宇、店铺经营用房，以及受限制的外来人员无法进入居住的实施管控措施的住宅租赁用房。
So, the question arises, are the tenants of above mentioned houses entitled to terminate the lease or a reduction in rent?
那么问题来了，作为房屋租赁的承租方，是否有权要求减免租金或解除合同？
First of all, the outbreak and the corresponding prevention and control measures can be identified as a “force majeure” event, which we discussed in our previous article 《Force Majeure? - To be, or not to be, that is the question!》. Generally speaking, there supposed to be a clause about the definition of a "force majeure" event and agreement about how to deal with it in the event of an occurrence of force majeure based on the principle of freedom of contract such an agreement will be applied preferentially. So, in this blog post we are going to focus on the application of the law in the absence of a specific agreement between the two parties.首先，此次的疫情及相应防控措施可以认定为不可抗力，这我们已在前一篇文章中讨论过《新冠疫情属于不可抗力吗？》。通常，承租双方在已签署的房屋租赁合同中会有关于“不可抗力”事件的定义以及不可抗力事件发生后如何处理的条款，基于意思自治的原则，该约定会优先适用。所以本文将重点讨论在双方无具体约定或约定不明情况下的法律适用。
However, the tenant is entitled to request rent relief under the "principle of fairness" or the doctrine "change of circumstances". As a matter of fact, the "principle of fairness" is one of the basic principles of civil law in China. At the same time, Article 26 of the <Judicial Interpretation II of Contract Law of PRC> explains the “change of circumstances” as follows: Where any significant change in the objective environment has taken place after the formation of a contract which could not have been foreseen by the relevant parties at the time of entering into the contract, and does not belong to any commercial risk occasioned by any force majeure cause, rendering the continual performance of the contract manifestly unfair to the relevant party or rendering it impossible to realise the goal of the contract, the People's Court shall confirm whether the contract shall be varied or dissolved in accordance with the principle of justice taking into account the actual circumstance, where a relevant party petitions a People's Court to vary or dissolve the contract.2. 能否要求减免租金?
承租方有权根据“公平原则” 或“情势变更”制度要求租金减免。事实上，“公平原则”是我国民法的基本原则之一.同时，《合同法司法解释二》第26条对“情势变更”制度作了比较明确的规定，” 合同成立以后客观情况发生了当事人在订立合同时无法预见的、非不可抗力造成的不属于商业风险的重大变化，继续履行合同对于一方当事人明显不公平或者不能实现合同目的，当事人请求人民法院变更或者解除合同的，人民法院应当根据公平原则，并结合案件的实际情况确定是否变更或者解除。”
In relation to the lease contract which is affected by the epidemic prevention and control measures resulting in the fact that the tenant can’t use the house normally, it would be unfair for tenants to require them to perform the contract in accordance with the original rent standards. According to judicial interpretation issued by the Supreme People's Court and the corresponding cases during the outbreak of "SARS" in 2003（readers may refer to another article of ours for more information: Can I Terminate My Contract due to the NCP outbreak?）, the tenant shall have the right to request a reasonable change of the contract and rent reduction accordingly.
就本文所涉的房屋租赁合同，因受疫情防控措施影响而导致承租方在一定期限内无法正常使用承租房屋，在此期间如果要求完全按照原定租金标准履行合同，势必会对承租方不公。根据2003年“非典”期间最高人民法院颁布的司法解释及相应案例（读者可以参考我们另一篇文章:《我能因为疫情爆发要求解除合同吗？》了解更多信息），承租方应当有权据此要求合理变更合同、减免租金。
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