COVID-19: Business Tenants: Reprieves Extended: England & Wales

Bad for business tenants if they are behind with their rent. Good news for business tenants if they feared the landlord sending in a bailiff to seize stock, their copies of Breaking Law and their padadol tablets to sell and pay off those arrears. Landlords are currently paralysed from forfeiting a business lease and bringing court proceedgs to have the tenant evicted until 30 September 2020. That period has been extended until 31 December 2020 by the Business Tenancies (Protection from Forfeiture: Relevant Period) (Coronavirus) (England) (No 2) Regulations 2020 SI 2020/994 laid before Parlimant yesterday. The same change has alreday made for business tenants in Wales. And there's an increase in the amount of rent that has to be in arrears before a bailiff can be sent in under the commercial rent arreras recovery scheme. Pre-pandemic it was seven days' worth. From 25 April 2020 this was raised to 90 days. There was a further increase from 24 June 2020 to 189 days. By the Taking Control of Goods (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020 SI 2020/1002 applying to business premises in both England and Wales, the figure is raised from 29 September 2020 until 24 December 2020 (inclusive) to 276 days' rent and from 25 December 2020 to a temporary 366 days.