If a company goes into liquidation, the liquidator is able to disclaim the whole of an insolvent tenant’s liability under a lease. The disclaimer ends all of the tenant’s rights, interests and liabilities, effectively meaning that the tenant can get out of the lease early. This can have a significant impact on a landlord, whose expected income from the property suddenly comes to an end.

The face of the UK's high streets and shopping centres continues to change rapidly as consumers, shopping and leisure habits change and evolve.

In this latest article in our "future of consumer" series, we look at the continued use of company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) by retailers (and restaurant owners) to reduce their exposure to landlords under their leases and ask what are the trends and the future direction of this restructuring procedure.

Since the Construction Act came into force over 20 years ago, it has been a central tenet of the construction industry that a party can start an adjudication at any time, on any dispute (subject to questions of crystallisation or the dispute having already been decided).

However, it is interesting that two recent Court decisions seem to have called this into question - Michael Lonsdale v Bresco and Grove v S&T.

Once I have a contract it is binding unless the other side goes bust – right?

One party to a contract cannot unilaterally change the deal – right?

If a commercial tenant does not pay its rent the landlord can forfeit – right?

As landlords have found to their cost this year, the answer is that a CVA can challenge all of these assumptions.

Richard Eaton examines company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) and their growing use in the commercial retail property sector.

Are CVAs on the rise?

Background to the Case

Monthly Law Update | Social Housing July 2018 Introduction  Supply chain  This update shows the main legislative and case law  developments and statutory guidance issued in  connection with the Social Housing sector from the  last month (June 2018) together with links to the  relevant sources where you can obtain further  information.  If you have any concerns about any of the  developments outlined in this update, or if you require  any advice on the effect of the developments or on  how to respond appropriately, please contact: 

The new housing administration regime for registered providers of social housing is now in force. Our latest Insight introduces the new legislation and highlights some of the key ways in which a housing administration will differ from a normal administration process.

Dubbed "the year of the CVA", 2018 has so far seen a spate of high profile retail insolvencies. Landlords are seeking to protect their position in this volatile climate.

The rules governing the actions landlords can take in insolvency situations are complex. They depend on whether the tenant is a company or individual, the specific insolvency process involved and whether the Financial Collateral Arrangements (No. 2) Regulations 2003 (FCAR) apply.

2018 has been described as “the year of the CVA”, especially in the retail and casual dining sectors. Although company voluntary arrangements can be a useful tool to compromise portfolios of leasehold obligations, there are certain situations where a CVA may be unsuitable.

1. When a full operational and/or financial restructuring is required