Following the coronavirus pandemic, the Government introduced a period of protected rent arrears for commercial tenants. The timeframe for either party to apply for arbitration over these arrears ended on 24th September 2022.
End of protected rent arrears arbitration
The Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 included a period of protected rent arrears for businesses who had been forced to close during the pandemic. This was for a period of six months from 24th March 2022 and has now come to an end.
The protected arrears covered the period from 21st March 2020 up until on or before 18th July 2021 for businesses in England. The precise end date depended on the type of industry that the business operated in. Find out more details about the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act and the protected rent periods.
Collecting commercial rent arrears
Where the arbitration process has not been started
Where neither party has begun the arbitration process for protected rent arrears, this can no longer be started. The deadline for applying for arbitration has now ended and there has been no extension put in place. All rent arrears, including those accumulated during the coronavirus pandemic, can be collected according to the normal Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) legislation.
For tenants / landlords who have used the arbitration process
Where rent arrears are already included in an agreement that was made through arbitration this will still be valid. The arrears will continue to be protected until the agreement ends.
Where there are further arrears outside of arbitration
Where there is an agreement in place to pay protected rent arrears, but the tenant has additional arrears that are not covered, these can be collected using the normal CRAR process.
Moratorium on Wales forfeitures ended
The restrictions on the use of commercial lease forfeitures in Wales for the non-payment of rent also came to an end at midnight on 24th September 2022. This means that landlords can now forfeit leases in the same manner as before the coronavirus restrictions.
The restrictions on forfeitures for commercial properties in England ended up 24th March 2022.
Help for commercial landlords with rent arrears
At CEA Limited, we support commercial landlords across England and Wales to recover rent arrears from their tenants. Speak to one of our commercial property experts today regarding the CRAR process and lease forfeitures.