Commercial Evictions Moratorium will be lifted tomorrow

Put in place during the first lockdown in 2020, the Commercial Evictions Moratorium will be lifted on the 25th of March 2022.

This comes very soon after the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement and closely on the heels of the impending increase in energy prices across the UK. With the end of the moratorium in sight, it is understandable that both tenants and landlords will have tough decisions to make.

Utilised as a lifeline to support businesses, the moratorium legislation gave tenants and landlords the space to come to agreements around how to settle monies owed. Some of these agreements resulted in a waiver of some of the money owed and others in long-term payment plans.

Mark Supperstone, Managing Partner at ReSolve, commented:

“The eviction moratorium comes to an end tomorrow, meaning that landlords will be able to call-in outstanding rents. It is natural that business owners may feel apprehensive about the pressure this could place on their finances. The Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill, which comes into effect tomorrow, will provide some solace with new measures to assist commercial landlords and tenants in resolving rent debts from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For any business owners concerned about these changes, the best advice I can give to SMEs is to talk to their landlords. Landlords and other creditors are still being patient and understanding and therefore may be open to negotiating. There may be an opportunity to reschedule and/or refinance your debts.”

If the opportunity was taken up by tenants and landlords during this period, agreements should already be in-place, but if not, it’s the to move forward and do so with hast.