The Property Litigation Association (PLA) has responded to the government consultation on the best way to withdraw or replace the moratorium on commercial lease evictions and restrictions on the use of Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery, in light of England easing out of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions.
Lexis®Library update: The response takes into account the views of around 1,400 lawyers specialising in property disputes in England and Wales, with members acting on behalf of both landlords and tenants in such disputes.
Key points from the response include:
- in relation to whether current measures encourage negotiation between landlords and tenants—views were mixed, with 54% saying no and 46% saying yes. Of those, lawyers representing landlords were more ambivalent with 51% saying no compared to 59% of lawyers representing tenants
- in relation to whether enough time was given to enable negotiations to take place—100% of landlord representatives agreed compared to 59% of tenant representatives
- in relation to whether the government’s code of practice was effective—72% of members believed it was not. Of those, 70% were landlord lawyers and 88% tenant lawyers
- generally, both landlord and tenant lawyers agree that further changes are needed, following the recent decision in Commerz Real Investmentgesellschaft mbH v TFS Stores Ltd [2021] EWHC 863 (Ch), that a landlord is not bound to follow a voluntary code before being able to seek court assistance in recovering rent arrears
Source: PLA response on commercial rents and Covid 19: a call for evidence
This content was first published by LNB News / Lexis®Library, a LexisNexis® company, on 10 May 2021 and is published with permission. Further information can be found at: www.lexisnexis.co.uk.
