A government press release issued on 23 April 2020 will be welcomed by commercial tenants up and down the country, particularly those in the retail and leisure industries, but it will not make such welcome reading for landlords.

In the current climate many commercial tenants are having a difficult time and consequently so too are landlords. The government has urged landlords and investors to work collaboratively with high street businesses which have found themselves unable to pay their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Questions from a landlord's perspective

My Tenant has asked for a rent holiday. I want to help them out at this time - how can I facilitate this?

Most landlords and tenants are working well together to reach agreement in respect of rent, either moving rental payments to monthly rather than quarterly in advance, or deferring rental obligations for a specified period. It is obviously preferable, but not necessarily essential, to have such arrangements documented in writing, as follows: