Adam Palmer

The government have now enacted provisions to prevent forfeiture claims being brought against businesses as a result of the crisis.

From the 26 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 (the “relevant period”), a landlord’s right of re-entry or forfeiture arising from non-payment of rent cannot be enforced. The relevant period can be extended beyond 30 June 2020 by the Secretary of State.

Conversely, during the relevant period, a landlord cannot be said to have waived his or her right of re-entry or forfeiture, unless it is done expressly in writing.

The result of these provisions is that from 26 March 2020 until 30 June 2020, no order for possession can be enforced and any order for possession made during that period must take effect after 30 June 2020.

During the relevant period, businesses affected by the crisis may be unable to pay their rent. Previously, under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, landlords could oppose the grant of a new lease protected by that Act by asserting the ground under section 30(1)(b) i.e. that there has been a  persistent delay in paying rent which has become due. The Coronavirus Act provides that any failure to pay rent during the relevant period is to be disregarded under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.

While the proposals grant tenants welcome protection during these difficult times, it does leave landlords with mounting rent arrears which may affect their ability to pay their own mortgages and outgoings. The Government has said that a mortgage holiday will be provided by lenders and the Financial Conduct Authority has produced guidance on this issue.

On 18th March 2020, the Government issued a press release stating that emergency legislation would be introduced to “suspend new evictions from social or private rented accommodation while this national emergency is taking place” and “no new possession proceedings through applications to the court to start during the crisis”.

The Coronavirus Act (“the Act”) entered into force on 25 March 2020. The Act refers to a relevant period within which these provisions will apply. That period is defined as beginning on 26 March 2020 and ending on 30 September 2020.

The Act applies to a variety of tenancies: Protected and Statutory; Secured; Flexible; Assured; Assured Shorthold; Introductory; and Demoted. For all these the Act extends the notice period for commencing possession proceedings to three months.

The three-month notice period can be extended to up to six months, but not above six months. This period can be changed multiple times.

A possible issue with this variation is that if the notice period is changed to six months, there is no provision for varying notices already served using the three-month period. It seems likely that such a notice would still be valid. In that case, proceedings would commence at the end of the three-month period but would still be within the now six-month notice period.

During the three-month notice period, any rent arrears that accrue can still be used as grounds for possession proceedings once the relevant period comes to an end. The Act merely changes when these proceedings can take place. Tenants who have lost their income due to the crisis will still be the subject of a possession claim.

This is particularly notable as the Act provides a solution to this issue for business tenancies. For the purposes of making out the ground of persistent delay in paying rent which has become due under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, any failure to pay rent during the relevant period is to be disregarded.

On top of this, the Act makes no provision for notices validly served prior to the passage of the Act. A notice validly served prior to the Act becoming law will be valid and will lead to new proceedings during the relevant period. Some of which, no doubt, will have been caused by the Coronavirus crisis. This is, of course, subject to Courts being able to hear such claims.