Managing property costs

For a lot of businesses one of their largest costs is associated with property. In these difficult times businesses may be struggling to pay the rent.

In such circumstances it is normally a good idea to speak with the landlord and work with them to get agreement to an affordable solution. Most landlords will want to retain good tenants.

Solutions could range from; payment holidays, rent reductions, payment of rent on a monthly rather than quarterly basis (which will assist with cash flow). If the issue is more than just a temporary blip then, perfectly reasonably, landlords will want to protect their investment.

Such protection measures might include; in return for say a rent deferral that the directors provide a personal guarantee, or in more severe cases the landlord might look to distrain over the contents of the premises, the ultimate sanction of landlords is to determine the lease if there has been a relevant breach of the terms (usually surrounding non payment of the rent).

The government has already announced business rates relief which will also assist struggling businesses. If you want advice in managing property costs please do contact Sandra Mundy on smundy@jamescowper.co.uk