On 16 June 2021, the Government announced that it will be extending the moratorium on the forfeiture of commercial leases and CRAR (commercial rent arrears recovery) until 25th March 2022.

Their main objective in extending the moratorium is to protect jobs, by allowing businesses to continue to trade when they are struggling to pay their rent.

When the moratorium was first introduced last year, the Government encouraged landlords and tenants to resolve rent arrear issues by negotiating and entering into payment plans. Unfortunately, some tenants have used the moratorium as an excuse for not paying the rent to their landlords since March 2020.

The Government has stated that tenants should start to pay rent either in accordance with their lease, or with the arrangements they have agreed with their landlord.

However, there is an alternative option for the recovery of commercial rent arrears which our Debt Recovery team can assist you with. You may wish to consider issuing a County Court Claim Form with a view to entering a County Court Judgment (CCJ) against the tenant. Once the CCJ has been entered, we can instruct our High Court Enforcement Agents to attend and levy on goods under a Writ of Control.

The writ will be valid for 12 months and does mean that the enforcement agent may also take control of goods at other sites where the tenant operates, not just at the demised premises.

 

Author John Szepietowski

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