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The Government has today announced that it is further extending the ban on business evictions until the end of March next year reports commercial property agent Prop-Search; but is urging those businesses that are able to pay their rent to do so.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed that the eviction ban, first introduced in March 2020 to protect businesses after their revenue streams were cut as a result of Covid-19 restrictions, will be extended. He has however, said that this will be the last time.
Announcing the extension, Mr Jenrick said: “This support is for the businesses struggling the most during the pandemic, such as those in hospitality – however, those that are able to pay their rent should do so.”
The Government will also extend insolvency measures on restricting statutory demands and winding up petitions until the end of March. And the restriction on landlords using Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) to recover unpaid rent will also automatically extend to the end of March, in line with the moratorium’s expiry date.
Simon Toseland, a Director of Prop-Search, said: “Measures were put in place at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to protect struggling firms from being evicted from premises and extended in September. This protection was scheduled to expire at the end of the year.”
He continued: “Whilst the Government in June introduced a voluntary Code of Practice to help guide landlords and tenants to work together to agree rent payment options for struggling tenants, many within the industry felt it needed a more authoritative role.”
The Government has today also announced a review of commercial landlord and tenant legislation, to address concerns that the current framework does not reflect the current economic conditions. This review will consider how to enable better collaboration between commercial landlords and tenants, and also how to improve the leasing process to ensure our high streets and town centres thrive as we recover from the pandemic and beyond.