Tag Archive for negotiating lease

Shops, gyms and restaurants call for £2bn property bounceback grant

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Shops, gyms, restaurants and pubs have called for the Government to split the cost of unpaid rent with commercial landlords.
Trade associations including the UKHospitality, ukactive and the British Retail Consortium have issued a joint call for the Government to introduce a Property Bounceback Grant.
The Property Bounceback Grant would cost an estimated £2bn, yet it would save 375,000 jobs and more than pay for itself nearly fourfold in the first year alone.
>See also: Where to find your £5,000 small business technology grant
Analysis commissioned by the trade bodies found that if Government support covered 50 per cent of unpaid rents across the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors for only six months, it would cost £1.75bn.
However, the total return to the Treasury in terms of tax revenue from economic activity would be almost £7bn, and 375,000 jobs would be saved – a return on investment of nearly 400 per cent.
Without financial support from the Government, warn the trade bodies, both tenants and landlords face the very real risk of business failure, hundreds of thousands of job losses, and long-lasting damage to high streets across the UK.
>See also: How to make a successful business interruption insurance claim
Retail

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Shops, gyms and restaurants call for £2bn property bounceback grant

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Shops, gyms, restaurants and pubs have called for the Government to split the cost of unpaid rent with commercial landlords.
Trade associations including the UKHospitality, ukactive and the British Retail Consortium have issued a joint call for the Government to introduce a Property Bounceback Grant.
The Property Bounceback Grant would cost an estimated £2bn, yet it would save 375,000 jobs and more than pay for itself nearly fourfold in the first year alone.
>See also: Where to find your £5,000 small business technology grant
Analysis commissioned by the trade bodies found that if Government support covered 50 per cent of unpaid rents across the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors for only six months, it would cost £1.75bn.
However, the total return to the Treasury in terms of tax revenue from economic activity would be almost £7bn, and 375,000 jobs would be saved – a return on investment of nearly 400 per cent.
Without financial support from the Government, warn the trade bodies, both tenants and landlords face the very real risk of business failure, hundreds of thousands of job losses, and long-lasting damage to high streets across the UK.
>See also: How to make a successful business interruption insurance claim
Retail

Read more...

Landlords blocked from evicting small businesses for another three months

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government has blocked commercial landlords from evicting small businesses from shops and other premises for another three months until end-September.
The U-turn will come as a huge relief for small businesses struggling to pay rent as businesses reopen post lockdown to uncertain, if non-existent, demand.
Up until yesterday, the draft voluntary code of practice being circulated made no mention of extending the original three-month moratorium on landlords repossessing premises and evicting tenants for non-payment of rent due to Covid-19.
>See also: How to ask for a commercial rent freeze from your landlord

The Government will amend the Coronavirus Act to extend the moratorium on evictions from June 30 to September 30, meaning no business will be forced out of their premises if they a miss a payment in the next three months.
Secondary legislation will prevent landlords using Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery unless they are owed 189 days of unpaid rent
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill will be amended, extending the temporary ban on the use of statutory demands and winding-up petitions where a company cannot pay its bills due to coronavirus until September 30

However, the draft code of practice encourages tenants to continue to pay their

Read more...

Landlords blocked from evicting small businesses for another three months

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government has blocked commercial landlords from evicting small businesses from shops and other premises for another three months until end-September.
The U-turn will come as a huge relief for small businesses struggling to pay rent as businesses reopen post lockdown to uncertain, if non-existent, demand.
Up until yesterday, the draft voluntary code of practice being circulated made no mention of extending the original three-month moratorium on landlords repossessing premises and evicting tenants for non-payment of rent due to Covid-19.
>See also: How to ask for a commercial rent freeze from your landlord

The Government will amend the Coronavirus Act to extend the moratorium on evictions from June 30 to September 30, meaning no business will be forced out of their premises if they a miss a payment in the next three months.
Secondary legislation will prevent landlords using Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery unless they are owed 189 days of unpaid rent
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill will be amended, extending the temporary ban on the use of statutory demands and winding-up petitions where a company cannot pay its bills due to coronavirus until September 30

However, the draft code of practice encourages tenants to continue to pay their

Read more...

How to ask for a commercial rent freeze from your landlord

Originally written by Simon Maddox on Small Business
The coronavirus pandemic is completely unprecedented and brings with it unique and far-reaching issues for both commercial tenants and landlords to navigate. Many small business owners have already written to landlords asking for a commercial rent freeze while the pandemic goes on.
Can I go on a rent strike?
Many businesses will want to know what their rights are in a situation where they are prevented from opening business due to an “act of God” or force majeure. Can they unilaterally freeze rent payments where they are shut down, whether through enforced staff absence or official decree, as we have seen this week across the leisure and hospitality industry?
>See also: Government launches business Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
What if the government forces my small business to close?
As a starting point, in the absence of specific contractual provisions, there is no common law right to include a deemed “force majeure” provision in the lease document. Commercial leases often contain rent suspension provisions for damage to property arising out of certain specified risks, but those rent suspension provisions do not normally extend to cover enforced closure of retail or other units pursuant to statutory powers.
Therefore, in the absence

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How to negotiate a commercial lease – tips for negotiating with a landlord

Originally written by Simon Maddox on Small Business
Starting a new business can be a daunting prospect, with numerous issues to overcome in order to ensure the smooth transition from fledgling entity to a successful, profitable company. Taking your first commercial premises can be an integral part of this process, bringing its own challenges and obstacles.
Taking commercial space is an exciting step for any business, but it’s unfortunately very easy to make mistakes that could cost the business dearly in the future. Not knowing how to negotiate a commercial lease is stressful for any business owner. However, with the right advice, entrepreneurs can avoid common pitfalls, securing a deal that’s right for their business, with the appropriate safeguards necessary for an ambitious start-up:
#1 – Do your homework and avoid hasty decisions
The first goal is to identify the property that is right for your business – there is a whole host of criteria to consider, some more obvious than others. As well as location and sq. ft. it’s worth taking the time to speak to any other occupiers about their experience. We often speak with business owners who have failed to dig deeper than the façade and the information they’re presented with

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