Call to end evictions moratorium intensifies
The industry’s clarion call for the government to lift its ban on commercial evictions has grown louder, as new research shows that the majority of property owners have reached agreements with occupiers on tackling unpaid rent accrued since March last year.
The latest figures from the British Property Federation show that 14% of tenants are refusing to engage with their landlords, despite proactive approaches from property owners on working collaboratively to achieve a solution.
The BPF highlighted that this cohort includes well-capitalised businesses that have traded throughout the pandemic. A potential extension to the government’s moratorium would therefore risk leading this minority to continue exploiting it.
The industry’s clarion call for the government to lift its ban on commercial evictions has grown louder, as new research shows that the majority of property owners have reached agreements with occupiers on tackling unpaid rent accrued since March last year.
The latest figures from the British Property Federation show that 14% of tenants are refusing to engage with their landlords, despite proactive approaches from property owners on working collaboratively to achieve a solution.
The BPF highlighted that this cohort includes well-capitalised businesses that have traded throughout the pandemic. A potential extension to the government’s moratorium would therefore risk leading this minority to continue exploiting it.
“The longer the moratoriums continue, the longer abuse will continue, which restricts support available to those businesses who truly need it,” said the BPF.
The organisation added that extending the moratorium past the end of June puts recovery in the UK and its town centres at risk, citing estimates that the sector provides £63.3bn in capital investment to the UK and £116.1bn to the wider economy.
Half of the rent due to 36 landlords across 16,320 retail, leisure and hospitality leases since March 2020 has now been paid. Landlords and tenants have reached agreements on managing a further 27% through new payments plans, waivers, rent holidays and deferrals. This means that just 23% of total rents owed since March last year remain unresolved.
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the BPF, said: “The majority of commercial leases are now covered by agreements between property owners and tenants on how to manage rent arrears, with millions of pounds of support provided to vulnerable tenants and the retail property market resetting fast. Yet well-capitalised businesses continue to exploit the moratoriums and pay no rent, at the expense of the local authorities, pensions and savings funds that own the high street.
“Government must take action now, when most businesses are open and trading, to end this scandal.”
Leech added: “For those tenants simply refusing to engage, they must understand that rent arrears are debts, and the onus is on the tenant to engage, be transparent, provide financial information and make the case for concessions. Property owners will continue to support those tenants in genuine distress.
“Nowhere else in the world has the property industry been subject to such punitive measures by a government. The billions of pounds looking to invest in UK real estate will be watching our government’s actions closely as the moratoriums draw to an end at the end of June.”
The BPF’s research contrasts with figures from the British Retail Consortium, which warned that two-thirds of UK retailers face legal action in July once the moratorium on commercial evictions and debt enforcement ends.
The BRC, which polled 24 respondents accounting for more than £12bn in turnover and 5,000 stores, found that 30% face county court judgments from commercial landlords. An 80% majority of retailers said some landlords have given them less than a year to pay back arrears accrued during the pandemic.
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