{"id":164997,"date":"2021-05-30T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2021-05-30T09:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/two-thirds-of-retailers-face-legal-action-in-july-over-unpaid-rents\/"},"modified":"2021-08-06T12:11:38","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T12:11:38","slug":"two-thirds-of-retailers-face-legal-action-in-july-over-unpaid-rents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/two-thirds-of-retailers-face-legal-action-in-july-over-unpaid-rents\/","title":{"rendered":"Two-thirds of retailers face legal action in July over unpaid rents"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 30 June 2021 the moratorium on aggressive debt collection from commercial landlords will end, opening up thousands of retailers to legal action<\/strong>, according to a new survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).<\/p>\n

With many retailers closed for large periods during the last fifteen months, many have accrued huge debts that they are only just beginning to be able to pay. Total rent debt is estimated to be \u00a32.9bn.<\/p>\n

Almost one third (30%) of retailers say they have already faced County Court Judgements (CCJs) from commercial landlords. Furthermore,\u00a080% of tenants said some landlords\u00a0have given them less than a year to pay back rent arrears accrued during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Already, one in seven shops lie empty (according to the BRC-LDC Vacancy Monitor, Q1, 2021), with that number expected to rise. The BRC says that without action the end of the moratorium could result in \u201ca tsunami of closures.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government introduced a Code of Practice last year to address the outstanding debt issues. Unfortunately, the BRC says two thirds of those surveyed described the code as \u2018ineffective\u2019 due to its voluntary nature.<\/p>\n

The BRC is urging the government to give the code greater weight and take other measures to support tenants and landlords, including:<\/p>\n