London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Unpaid rent bills for commercial property during pandemic could reach £7 billion

Unpaid rent bills for commercial property during pandemic could reach £7 billion

Commercial property investors could see pandemic-related rent arrears reach up to £7 billion, it has been estimated, amid reports a ban on business evictions is being extended.

The moratorium was introduced in April to help firms ride out the virus crisis, and has been extended at various points.

Shopkeepers, restaurateurs and hospitality businesses will now be afforded protection from eviction until the end of June, which is three months later than planned, The Financial Times reported.

The British Property Federation told the Evening Standard it estimates total rent unpaid for UK commercial property between late March 2020 and the end of June 2021, will be up to £7 billion if the moratorium is extended and the current rate of rent non-payment continues.

That covers all commercial property, including offices and warehouses, but the vast majority of the rent unpaid is from the retail and hospitality sectors.

While some tenants have agreed rent holidays or deferrals with landlords during the pandemic, a number have not and have been worried they will not be able to pay the outstanding rent, after suffering months of closures in lockdowns.

But some landlords have claimed there are some tenants refusing to pay that are big, profitable companies wrongly taking advantage of the crisis.

Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation said: “Everyone agrees that the majority of tenants and landlords are already working in partnership and creating new plans for the future together. A further extension to the moratorium will only delay recovery and the re-setting of the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. It will prolong the current stalemate between a minority of tenants and landlords.”

But any extension will be welcomed by tenants that have been hit hard by the virus crisis.

"Non-food stores have lost over £22bn during the three lockdowns, and many retailers are left simply unable to afford rents"


Dominic Curran, property policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Non-food stores have lost over £22bn during the three lockdowns, and many retailers are left simply unable to afford rents. Even if these shops reopen in April, lower footfall and the high costs of implementing coronavirus safety measures will mean it is a long road to recovery. “

Mark Selby, co-founder of Wahaca, said: “This is obviously very welcome news, particularly for a lot of small independent businesses who are looking at an incredibly bleak and worrying 3-4 months ahead without any means or income to pay for rent on properties they have for the vast majority of the year been unable to trade from.”

Selby added: “ That said this is a very small element of the support that is entirely necessary for the hospitality sector who need a range of measures including an extension to the VAT cut and business rate holiday until at least the end of the year.”

A number of firms are hoping Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce more support for hospitality and retail businesses in the upcoming budget.

A number of firms are hoping Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce more support for hospitality and retail businesses in the upcoming budget.

A Government spokesman said: “Throughout the pandemic we have provided an unprecedented £280 billion package of economic support, while supporting businesses and high streets, as well as safeguarding millions of jobs.

This includes passing legislation to protect businesses from eviction and insolvency if they are struggling to pay rent due to Covid-19, and publishing a Code of Practice to help negotiations between landlords and tenants.”

The spokesman added: “Further guidance will be published on this shortly and we continue to work closely with both commercial landlords and tenants on these issues.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×