Commercial Property Covid-19 Code of Practice

As well as extending the current moratoriums on forfeiture of leases based on arrears of rent, extending the arrears of rent required to instigate CRAR to 189 days and extending the temporary ban on statutory demands until the 30^th September 2020, the Government has now published a Code of Practice for commercial property relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The full text of the code can be found here

The intention of the code is to promote good practice amongst landlord and tenant relationships that have been impacted by the current pandemic. Landlords and Tenants are encouraged to act collaboratively to find temporary arrangements outside the scope of their leases.

The code encourages Tenant’s who are having trouble paying their rent to approach their landlords as early as possible and to be clear about why the concession is required, providing such financial information about their business as is necessary to back up their request. Landlord’s are encouraged to provide concessions where they reasonably can, taking their own financial commitments into account. The code provides a list of items that a Landlord ought to take into account in considering the tenant’s request and also a list of possible concessions that the parties may consider. The code also encourages tenants to pay their service charges where at all possible, with landlords being encouraged to pass on any savings.

A number of high profile organisations have signed up to the Code however it remains voluntary and time will tell if it is more observed in its breach.

This blog post was written by Guy Osborn, Commercial property.