Restaurants predict mass evictions as moratorium ends
Bosses of Burger King, Itsu, Shake Shack and other restaurants with around 600 UK sites are urging Boris Johnson to extend the ban on commercial evictions, or risk widespread closures and redundancies.
They claim that around 30pc of landlords in their experience have “indicated their intention to evict, issue final demands for full payment or otherwise indicated they will not support any restructure of Covid-19-incurred rent debt”.
Backed by delivery app Deliveroo, they want the Government to extend the moratorium for businesses in city centres, arguing that restaurants and cafes are still starved of office workers, and automatically ban commercial evictions in areas where local lockdowns are introduced. They also want the Government to prevent landlords demanding full payment of rent arrears on Oct 1, and discourage evictions by amending the terms of business rate relief on empty properties.
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“The expectation of some landlords that past debts can be immediately claimed and eviction proceedings commenced if there is a failure to pay is an unmanageable challenge,” they wrote.
The signatories include Will Shu, founder and chief executive of Deliveroo; Alasdair Murdoch, UK chief executive of Burger King; and Calum Ferguson, UK business director of Shake Shack. The proposals are likely to stoke controversy among landlords, who argue that the ban on evictions has caused a minority of tenants to withhold rent, despite being able to afford to pay. Landlords and tenants have called on the Government to pay 50pc of commercial rents.
A government spokesman said: “We recognise the huge challenges faced by commercial tenants and landlords during this period, and we’re working closely with them to ensure they are supported.”
