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Fragment of a new apartment building with ventilated facade
Fragment of a new apartment building with ventilated facade

“Pay Now, Argue Later”: tenant-friendly interpretation of service charge provisions provides grist for disputes

Introduction

This case is of interest because commercial service charges are very rarely reviewed by the Supreme Court.  The majority decision gives a surprisingly tenant-friendly view on what was a very traditionally worded service charge schedule.  As a result, landlords are now at risk of more pushback and argument from their tenants about the service charges they pay.Continue Reading Sara & Hossein Asset Holdings Limited v Blacks Outdoor Retail Limited [2023] UKSC 2

Over the next few weeks we’re going to let you in on our Top 6 developments in planning law from 2022.  These might not be the best known (or infamous) cases, but hopefully if you aren’t already aware of them they might provide you with food for thought.

The Supreme Court decision in the Hillside case – The problem of overlapping planning permissions

Top of the pile for us is the Supreme Court decision in Hillside v Snowdonia Natural Park Authority.  This looks at the perennial question: can you take advantage of two (or more) overlapping planning permissions over the same land, or do you lose the benefit of one of them by implementing the other one?Continue Reading Our top 6 Planning Law takeaways in 2022 – Part 1: The problem of overlapping planning permissions

The Court of Appeal, in the conjoined appeals of London Trocadero (2015) LLP v Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd and Bank of New York Mellon (International) Ltd v Cine-UK Ltd, once again vindicated beleaguered landlords by refusing to imply terms into professionally negotiated leases.  Tenants cannot withhold rent except in circumstances expressly set out in the lease.   

Buttressing the judgment is the reiteration of the stated “fundamental basis” of a lease: it is an estate granting exclusive possession for a fixed term, in consideration for payment of rent. The tenants’ frustrated intention to use the premises as a cinema was not sufficient to cause a total failure of consideration.Continue Reading The Picturehouse litigation: post-Covid, the Court of Appeal emphasises that contracts are meant to be binding

At last we have some clarity on the shape of the statutory arbitration scheme, which deals with the rent arrears – including service charges and interest – built up by businesses forced to close or restrict their activities during the pandemic (“protected rents”).
Continue Reading The Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill: more uncertainty for landlords

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak delivered the Autumn Budget for 2021 on 27 October 2021 and draft legislation was published on 4 November 2021 in the Finance Bill. The majority of the Budget announcement were focused on recovering the economy from COVID-19’s impact and preparing the UK marketplace to be competitive in a post Brexit world, with limited changes to the real estate sector.
Continue Reading Autumn Budget 2021: Real estate focused updates

The new month sees a partial re-instatement of the legislation permitting creditors to serve winding up petitions on companies.  However, the UK Government has adopted a softly, softly approach; this is seen from the temporary increase in the amount that must be owed from the modest £750 to £10,000 and the requirement for creditors to seek proposals for payment from a debtor business, giving them 21 days for a response, before they can proceed with winding up action.  The measures are said to protect small businesses as they seek to rebuild their stability.
Continue Reading Winding up petitions: a return to the old normal? Except for landlords

Landlords are increasingly frustrated with tenants who simply will not pay their rent and arrears.  Whilst some tenants are genuinely suffering, there is a feeling that some are using Chancellor Sunak’s moratorium on forfeiture as a budget management tool.

The suspension of forfeiture, a vital weapon in any landlord’s arsenal, is due to end in March 2022 (see “UK Government issues policy statement on Commercial Rent Debts“); Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (the “CRAR”) which is the mandatory form of distress introduced by statute should also end at the same time.Continue Reading What action can a Landlord take against defaulting Tenants?

Fragment of a new apartment building with ventilated facade

As previously reported (“Commercial property evictions ban extended until 25 March 2022“), on 24 June 2021 the UK Government extended the moratorium on landlords evicting commercial tenants for non-payment of rent during the pandemic under s82 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 until 25 March 2022. Similarly, the restriction on the Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR), which prevents landlords seizing a tenant’s goods in lieu of rent unless the tenant has more than 554 days’ of rent arrears, was extended until 25 March 2022. The restriction on the serving of winding up petitions based on a statutory demand under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 was also extended until the 30 September 2021.
Continue Reading UK Government issues policy statement on Commercial Rent Debts

Modern Architecture in Berlin

The Government has announced that new legislation will be introduced in this Parliamentary session to ring-fence outstanding commercial rent arrears built up by tenants due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to introduce measures to guide tenants and landlords to come to an agreement on how to deal with the money owed, either by waiving some of the total amount or agreeing a longer-term repayment plan. If agreement cannot be reached, the new legislation will put in place an arbitration process to make a formal award that will be legally binding and must be adhered to by both parties.

Until these new rules come into force the existing measures to protect commercial tenants from eviction will be extended from 30 June 2021 to 25 March 2022. The Government has also extended the restrictions on landlords using Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) to recover unpaid rent to 25 March 2022 as well, which increased the total number of days’ outstanding rent required for CRAR to be used to 544 days. Statutory demands and winding up petitions will also remain restricted for a further 3 months until September to protect tenants from enforcement action where their debts relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. The extensions will apply to all businesses, but the new measures introduced by legislation will only cover those businesses impacted by closures. This means that rent arrears accumulated before March 2020 and after the date when relevant restrictions on trading are lifted, will be actionable by landlords as soon as the tenant protections are lifted.  There is no restriction introduced on landlords suing for rent arrears as a simple debt claim.Continue Reading Commercial property evictions ban extended until 25 March 2022

Building reflections in the city of London

The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences have had a turbulent effect on the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors in the UK. Government regulations in response to the pandemic have required tenants to close their premises to the public for long periods of time, causing profits to plummet, whilst landlords have been faced with rent ceasing to be paid and few remedies remaining available to them due to Government restrictions prohibiting leases being brought to an end by forfeiture for non-payment of rent and preventing the use of statutory demands and winding up petitions based on non-payment of rent until summer 2021.

There has been particular dispute and discussion as to upon whom (landlords, tenants and/or insurers) the burden of the financial detriment caused by the pandemic should fall. For this reason, the recent judgment in Bank of New York Mellon (International) Ltd v Cine-UK Ltd and others [2021] EWHC 1013 (QB) is important as it tackles head-on the thorny issue as to whether rent remains due and payable by tenants of commercial premises in spite of the circumstances of the pandemic.

Continue Reading Commercial rent arrears payable despite COVID-19 pandemic