62% of rents due from business occupiers over the first seven days of the quarter
12% increase compared to same stage in previous quarter
Remit Consulting’s research suggests better landlord and tenant cooperation
Leisure and hospitality sector continues to struggle with rent payments
The overall collection of commercial property rents in the UK, a week after they were due to be paid on the September Quarter Day was almost 12% higher than the figure recorded in the previous quarter, according to the latest research by Remit Consulting.
The reconciled data, published by Remit Consulting in its latest REMark Report, reveals that seven days after rents were due, overall, 62.0% of rents due on commercial properties had been collected, almost 12% higher than in June and just over 5% higher than the figure witnessed at the same point in the March quarter.
The figures for service charge collections show that 56.3% of service charge payments had been received seven days after the September due date.
Working in conjunction with the British Property Federation (BPF), the RICS, Revo, the Agent's Advisory Group, and other members of the Property Industry Alliance (PIA), Remit Consulting has been analysing the collection of rent and service charge payments by the country's largest property management firms representing many of the main pension funds, REITS and other institutional investors, since the start of lockdown. The research covers around 125,000 leases on over 31,000 prime commercial property investment properties across the country.
Steph Yates, senior consultant at Remit Consulting, said: "While the figures relate to the period before the latest Government announcement regarding its three tier lockdown measures, the figures suggest a growing confidence among commercial property tenants and it is evident that landlords and tenants are cooperating to meet the challenges of the pandemic. There is also evidence that landlords are working closely with smaller tenants to make sure that they survive the ongoing crisis.
“This will be particularly important in the leisure and hospitality sector, which has by far the lowest collection rates,” she added.
Remit Consulting has calculated that over the first six months of the pandemic restrictions, there was a shortfall in rents collected by pension funds, rates, institutions and other commercial property landlords in excess of £3 billion. Despite the improved figures for the September quarter, the management consultancy expects the shortfall to continue to rise towards the end of the year.
