Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Commercial tenants are being threatened with legal action for non-payment of rent during the coronavirus crisis, despite government protection.
Last month, Section 82 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 was introduced to ban the forfeit of commercial leases until 30 June 2020 – or longer if the government deems it necessary – for not paying rent.
However, this doesn’t stop landlords from issuing statutory demand notices and winding up orders, making debt claims or pursuing Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR). These threats are serious – winding up orders and statutory demand notices can push businesses into insolvency within days.
Larger brands that have been affected include Caffe Concerto, Pho, David Lloyd Clubs and PureGym.
Mixed reactions
Some small business owners are having to turn to unsympathetic landlords.
Janine Tozer, founder of Not Just Pets, has branches in Bath and Frome. She has two separate landlords and, at the time that the lockdown started, approached both about either deferring rent payments or paying them by half for three months. Neither of the landlords were happy with the proposals, saying that she’s still trading and should be relying on emergency government funding.
“We were doing deliveries, but we were taking less than half

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