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If you have any questions relating to this article or for any Property advice, please contact Rachel Duncan on [email protected] or Russel May on [email protected]
We have advised a number of landlord and tenant clients over the last couple of weeks relating to options available if coronavirus is making a tenant unable to pay their rents, and suggested ways forward for both parties.
There are different ways that this could be dealt with:
Start a discussion with your Landlord as soon as possible. Ultimately it’s to the Landlord’s benefit to have a tenant in the premises (from a security perspective and in terms of payment of other outgoings such as utilities) and to avoid the hassle of trying to find a new tenant in the future – so they may be more amenable than you think to try to help, especially given the circumstances. You may be able to agree to a rent free period for a time, with either the term of the lease being extended by an according amount of months – or with the shortfall being picked up over the remainder of the lease term (i.e. paying a slightly higher annual rent once the rent-free period ends). The above section details the best way of putting this in place.
We are in uncharted waters here so the best advice to all landlords and tenants is to keep communication lines open, both with each other and with professional advisers.
Most landlord clients we have spoken to are generally amenable to tenant needs at this time. However, prior to agreeing to relax any formal requirements or agree to new or amended lease terms (relating to rent free periods, rent reviews, breaks or expiry, for example) it would be advisable to seek professional advice.
Boyes Turner LLP is very much open for business and the Property Group are all working remotely so are available to provide advice as and when required.
Consistent with our policy when giving comment and advice on a non-specific basis, we cannot assume legal responsibility for the accuracy of any particular statement. In the case of specific problems we recommend that professional advice be sought.
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If you have any questions relating to this article or for any Property advice, please contact Rachel Duncan on [email protected] or Russel May on [email protected]
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