News

Commercial tenant eviction ban to continue through 2020

It has been announced that the ban on commercial evictions based on rent arrears will continue throughout 2020.

Once the ban comes to an end, commercial landlords will be able to issue and pursue possession proceedings against their tenant, including evictions themselves.

Secretary of State for Housing Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said “We are extending support to protect those businesses that are unable to pay their rent from eviction to the end of the year. This will stop businesses going under and protect jobs over the coming months.”

Furthermore, there will be an extension on the restriction of the use of Commercial Rents Arrears Recovery to enforce unpaid rent on commercial leases, again, until the end of the year.

However, there was no mention of either extending the prohibition of the presentation of a winding-up petition based on an unsatisfied statutory demand or an extension to the more general blanket ban on possession proceedings (those other than matters based on rent arrears) – both of which come to an end this month.

Also noticeable by its absence was any mention of residential tenancies.