Leading names in the hospitality industry have written an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to extend the moratorium on evictions for commercial clients by a further six months and to provide additional support for businesses.
According to the BBC, the letter from Deliveroo CEO and founder Will Shu, which has been co-signed by several of the company’s major restaurant partners including Burger King and Itsu, warns that failure to extend and/or modify the moratorium could undo the restaurant industry’s recovery and lead to many permanent restaurant closures.
Revo, which represents commercial landlords, has said that some well-known firms are getting away with not paying rent and rent arrears. The government has said it is ‘working closely’ with both landlords and tenants.
The open letter proposes extending the eviction moratorium in city centres where the pandemic has caused a major decrease in footfall, tapering payments of rent arrears over the next 12 months, making sure landlords can only demand 10 per cent of arrears in October, and creating temporary moratoriums to protect businesses affected by local lockdowns.
It is also suggested that the government could discourage evictions by removing the ability to claim relief on empty properties where eviction proceedings were initiated due to rent arrears accord during the moratorium, adding that it would also ‘help rebalance negotiations’ in CVA cases.
“The restaurant sector has worked so hard to get back on its feet over recent months, but this all risks being undone unless further action is taken on rents,” says Shu.
“We urge the Government to consider these proposals, which will help protect the sector’s tentative recovery and ensure that our amazing restaurants can have a bright future.”
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