BRC responds to government extension of rent moratorium
Responding to the government announcement to extend the rent moratorium, Tom Ironside, director of business and regulation at the British Retail Consortium, said:
“We’re pleased that govt has listened to us and others on the issue of rents. It remains a difficult time for store-based retailers, who face high costs from coronavirus safety measures, and significantly lower footfall.
While the extension of the moratorium will provide a respite for many struggling retailers, a large Christmas Day rent bill would be a disaster during the all-important peak trading period. Some protections have not been included in this announcement, such as the ban on Statutory Demands and Winding up petitions. Without these, and County Court judgements, the protections that have been extended will be undermined.
Nonetheless, we hope those landlords who haven’t agreed settlements with their tenants will use this extra time and negotiate a reasonable deal that shares the impact of coronavirus fairly.”
