Coronavirus and commercial property – Update

On the 16^th September the Government extended the current moratorium on the enforcement action that commercial landlords can take against their tenants from the 30^th September to the 31^st December 2020.

The number of days of rent arrears required to instigate the Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) procedure has been increased to 276 for notices served up to the 24^th December 2020 and to 366 days for notices served from the 25^th December 2020 and the moratorium on forfeiture based on rent arrears has been extended to the end of the year.

Whilst this may be seen as good news for Tenants it should be noted that their obligation to pay rent under the lease is not affected and so whilst this may be a stay of execution those tenants who have not paid rent or come to some arrangement with their Landlords will simply be accruing more arrears.

This further extension really highlights the symbiotic relationship between landlords and tenants and the importance of them working together to find solutions that work for both of them. It is clear that the landlords and tenants who come through this situation most successfully will be those that have worked together to weather the storm.

Guy Osborn, Commercial Property, Osbornes Law

If you would like to speak to Guy or a member of the property team about a commercial property matter, please call 0207 485 8811 or complete an online enquiry form.