IRRV Alert - week ending 25th February 2022
News
Reports
Arbitration on rent debt relief for businesses affected by coronavirus (23 February 2022)
Guidance
Arbitration on rent debt relief for businesses affected by coronavirus
This draft statutory guidance sets out how arbitrators should exercise their functions under Part 2 of the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022.
- From:
- Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
- Published
- 23 February 2022
Applies to England and Wales
Documents
Working draft: Statutory guidance to arbitrators about the exercise of their functions under Part 2 of the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022
PDF, 527 KB, 32 pages
Details
Where certain rent debts (protected rent debts) have fallen due for payment under a business tenancy that has been affected by coronavirus, the question of whether a tenant should be granted relief from payment will, in the absence of agreement, become a matter eligible for determination by an arbitrator.
Part 2 of the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 sets out the statutory arbitration process that will apply in such circumstances in England and Wales.
Please note: this is an incomplete working draft
We have published this draft version of the guidance for arbitrators on the exercise of their functions under the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill so that we can engage with stakeholders on developing it.
This version contains:
(i) an explanation of the provisions of the Bill relevant to arbitrators and of the Arbitration Act 1996 where pertinent
(ii) an initial explanation of the concept of ‘viability of a tenant’s business’ in the Bill which will be developed further following input from stakeholders.
We will publish the complete statutory guidance after the Bill has received Royal Assent. As this version forms the basis of the final guidance, it is drafted as if the Bill had already been passed by Parliament and so, for example, it refers to ‘the Act’ rather than ‘the Bill’.
Published 23 February 2022