Monthly Archives: August 2021

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Retailers call for half of rent backlog to be waived

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By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

The communities secretary is facing new calls from retailers to force landlords to waive at least 50 per cent of rent debts accrued during the pandemic.

The Commercial Tenants Association, representing 500 businesses, has written to Robert Jenrick suggesting that the government adopts an Australian-style strategy to deal with rent debt. Under Australia’s rent relief scheme, it was mandatory for landlords to agree to a reduction in rent payable, up to 100 per cent, relative to the reduction in the tenant’s business during Covid-19. The scheme required landlords to waive 50 per cent of the total reduction in the rent payable and accept deferral of the remaining balance paid back in instalments over the remaining time on their lease.

CTA’s founder and chief executive, Peter Bell, said: “What we’re really calling for is for the government to impose a minimum of 50 per cent rental relief, in the form of a waiver to be agreed between the landlord and tenant.

“We’re hoping that arbitration is set up in a way that’s open, fair and transparent. We want to see a fair scenario where tenants are listened to and

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Defaults on Bounce Back Loan repayments lower than feared

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By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Defaults on the government’s Bounce Back Loan scheme are set to total up to £5bn – much lower than the previous tens of billions expected.

The estimates from officials and bankers come from an assessment based on the first few months of debt servicing. So far, it shows that between five per cent and ten per cent of SMEs that used the Bounce Back Loan scheme have missed out on repayments.

>See also: Nearly two thirds of Bounce Back Loans could go bad, says government

Bankers said that the expected recovery from Covid-19 helped companies regain their financial independence. One banking executive said that five per cent were already repaid in full on the date that the 12-month interest-free payment ended, saying that not all of the loans were taken out of desperation, but out of caution.

However, some bankers feel they could have pushed back the worst of the issues through its ‘pay as you grow’ scheme, offering repayment holidays of up to six months as well as extended loan terms of up to ten years.

Last year the government predicted that between 35 per cent and 60 per

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