We previously reported on the measures put in place by the UK Government to protect commercial tenants who are unable to pay their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Government has since extended the protections for business tenants, as follows:-
Restrictions on Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR)
CRAR protections have been extended until 31 March 2021. Since 25 December 2020, landlords cannot use the CRAR procedure unless an amount equal to 366 days’ rent is outstanding.
Forfeiture restrictions
The measures preventing forfeiture for non-payment of rent have been extended until 31 March 2021.
This extension was introduced by The Business Tenancies (Protection from Forfeiture: Relevant Period) (Coronavirus) (England) (No 3) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/1472), which came into force on 30 December 2020.
Measures preventing the eviction of residential tenants have also been extended. For more information, see our latest update here.
Restrictions on winding-up orders – Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA 2020)
The restrictions on presenting winding up petitions and on the making of winding-up orders introduced by CIGA 2020 have been extended again by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (Coronavirus) (Extension of the Relevant Period) (No 2) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/1483), which came into force on 8 December 2020. The measures will now end on 31 March 2021.
For more information, please contact Sarah-Kate Jackson or Claire Mac Mahon in our property litigation team.