AN emergency measure put in place in Scotland to protect business tenants amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has been welcomed by the property sector, writes Ian McConnell.
The move to extend the notice period for terminating leases for non-payment of rent from 14 days to 14 weeks is among actions to help businesses introduced in the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act.
Scottish minister for public finance Ben Macpherson has written to business leaders to promote new powers in the Act, which was passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament last week.
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Poorest must not pay the price again after coronavirus crisis
Previously, commercial tenants served with a warning letter for non-payment of rent would have 14 days to pay. The extension to 14 weeks applies to all commercial property leases, including those where a warning notice has already been issued and has not already expired.
Mr Macpherson said: “This new emergency measure is designed to support commercial tenants, who may be facing financial difficulties outwith their control during these extraordinary times. Many businesses are experiencing a sudden drop in income and this [measure] will help them to reduce costs and prioritise maintaining jobs and productive capacity.”
He noted the Act gave Scottish ministers powers to extend the period beyond 14 weeks if necessary, and urged landlords and tenants to work together to manage specific situations. Mr Macpherson observed “tenants could still be in a difficult financial position even after these next 14 weeks”.
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: A simple decision Prime Minister Boris Johnson should make amid coronavirus crisis
Hew Edgar, at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said: “These are exceptional circumstances, and the Scottish Government has introduced many necessary measures to support those...in Scotland’s commercial market.”
Scottish Property Federation chairman Robin Blacklock said: “The property industry recognises the severity of the health and economic emergency facing society and we have welcomed the Act on this basis. It is important both landlords and their tenant customers work together to manage the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, including where tenants struggle to meet rental liabilities through no fault of their own.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here