Moratorium against forfeiture extended
Welsh Government announced yesterday that the moratorium against forfeiture for the non-payment of rent will now be further extended to March 2022. This means that landlords cannot forfeit leases on the basis that a tenant owes rent. This measure was introduced last year, during the initial stages of the pandemic, and has now been renewed several times, most recently in June 2021 when it was announced that it would be in place until September 2021.
Whether the announcement is a good or a bad thing obviously depends on whether you are a landlord or tenant and how the pandemic has impacted your business. It’s worth mentioning that business tenants have received quite a bit of government support during the pandemic, in the form of rates reductions, furlough and grants, whereas landlords in most cases have not received much assistance.
I act for both landlords and tenants of commercial properties and, fortunately, during the pandemic I’ve had no clients involved in a stand-off with their tenant/landlord over non-payment of rent. There have been situations where landlords have been asked to make concessions, and on the whole, they have agreed, because sensible landlords see their investment in the long term and want their tenant to survive this period. That is not to say landlords have been happy to write-off rent and lose income, instead they’ve looked at innovative ways of helping their tenants without being at a loss themselves, either through rent deferrals, changing payment terms or re-gearing leases.
The way to approach these situations is to keep in mind that the landlord and tenant relationship works best, and benefits both parties most, when they work together in partnership.
A link to the Welsh Government press release can be found here -