With lockdown continuing beyond the planned “release date” of 21 June the UK Government has also announced an extension on the ban of evicting commercial tenants for non-payment of rent which was due to end on 30 June.

This moratorium has been extended in England to 25 March 2022 and we wait to see what the Scottish Government announces. Understandably tenants are pleased with the announcement, but this places even greater pressure on commercial landlords who, under new legislation being planned to ringfence the rent arrears that have arisen during the Covid crisis, are expected to make allowances and share the financial impact with their tenants.

Here at SKSi we take a proactive landlord position as, too often, we have seen landlords lose out by insolvency processes as demonstrated in the recent High Court rejection of the landlords’ appeal of the New Look CVA. We believe that by acting now and having a sensible dialogue between landlord and tenant it is likely that a solution can be found where the tenant can agree a repayment plan (and possibly restructuring) and the landlord can keep their properties occupied and rent paid.

We urge both tenants and landlords to get in touch with us as a matter of urgency to discuss how we can reach a mutually acceptable solution.