Liz Shaw, commercial property litigator at Wake Smith Solicitors, looks at what the latest, and potentially, last extension means.
“You will not be surprised that following the second national lockdown which ended on 2 December 2020, the Government announced a further, but purportedly final, extension to the moratorium on forfeiture of commercial business property to 31 March 2021.
“Furthermore, the restrictions on service of Statutory Demands and issue of Winding Up Petitions were also extended to 31 March 2021.
“The regulations on CRAR were also amended so that with effect from 25 December 2020 Landlords can only exercise CRAR where there is an equivalent of 366 days net rent.
“Accordingly, all of the above means that Landlords are still prevented from taking substantial action against defaulting Tenants.
“That said, for those Tenants that have failed to pay rents due, a debt mountain will have accumulated since March 2020.
“If the Government is true to its word, that this is a final extension in relation to forfeiture, there is only a short window of opportunity for defaulting Tenants to engage with Landlords to avoid forfeiture from 1 April 2021 onwards.”
For further advice on landlord and tenants matters contact Liz Shaw at [email protected]
