Should Landlords Waive Rent for Businesses That Had to Stay Closed?
In the News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52772948
there’s no surprise that some (if not most) are feeling the pinch and rent is usually a serious amount of money to part with, especially if you’ve not much to play with atm, so some businesses have argued against paying it
Should landlords waive rent for businesses that had to stay closed due to the pandemic?
Very true. The taxes they have to pay on properties in general is high, although most of the corporations that own or lease out are so wealthy, one could argue that it’s no skin off their nose
It would probably be in their long term interest to do so. A lot of businesses are going to be struggling to survive. Even when shops, restaurants, cinemas, etc reopen there will likely still be restrictive measures in place that will negatively impact sales. If landlords don't bend a little there is going to be a lot of empty shops. Less demand for commercial properties will eventually lead to a drop in the amount they can charge for rent.
Yes indeed. I read about the big shopping malls like Intu who aren’t yielding to pressure from their tenants to drop the rent. If a shopping mall doesn’t have shops, then what would be the point?
they should at least give them a discount, as I am sure most prices that are being charged are an inflated rate based on when business is at least running as normal
Difficult one. It would makes sense for landlords to at least offer a discount , otherwise businesses may go under and the landlord will be left with an empty property , however not all landlords are large profitable companies and maybe some are having financial problems of their own .
Very true. Everyone has been affected. Although I find the smaller businesses, usually family-run, are more sympathetic. Any of the landlords in the city area usually are not family-run and would choose to have empty properties rather than offer discounts. It’s that ruthless business mentality that instilled in a corporate environment
Like anything, some landlords could easily afford and others couldn't. This is a similar situation to the who furlough thing. Some companies, football teams and other businesses didn't need to sponge off the government to pay staff with furlough money but how do you differentiate? I suppose it could be means tested in some way based on annual turnover.
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