MAY | FEATURE
“N
o-one should be profiting from Covid-19. At
the moment, landlords are profiting. It’s as
simple as that.”
Jeremy Joseph, owner of G-A-Y and London’s largest
LGBT nightclub Heaven, puts it plainly. The UK’s music
venues are collectively facing an existential threat.
Covid-19 has forced their closure for the foreseeable
future, and some landlords seem to be using the
opportunity to turn a profit, charging full rent to
businesses with zero income.
It is fair to say the government is aware of these
issues, but as of yet there has been no official guidance
Close to the edge
Without regulations on rent, many UK venues are facing a
second crisis - paying their landlords. Stuart Wood investigates
Above: Heaven,
photography by
Chris Jepson
about how businesses are expected to deal with rent,
which is in many cases their biggest expense. For the
bars, pubs and clubs that are unable to bring any money
in during lockdown, it could be fatal.
What the government has done is to establish a three-
month ‘crisis period’ in which tenants cannot be evicted.
Businesses are advised to negotiate with their landlords
on a discretionary, case by case basis. But Joseph says
there are loopholes being exploited.
“Landlords are playing a very clever trick,” he says.
“The government has said that you cannot evict a
tenant during the crisis period of the next three months.
So instead, they are deferring those rent payments.
That means as soon as those three months are up, and
you’re three months’ rent in debt with no income – oh,
look – now they have the power to evict you. It’s a very
dangerous game being played here.”
Joseph took his frustrations public after receiving
no word from government about the rent situation in
the UK. He says he wants legally binding regulations
for landlords, in order to prevent them profiting from
vulnerable businesses. Specifically, Joseph mentions The
Arch Company (ArchCo), RDI REIT and Soho
Estates, which respectively own the leases
on Heaven, G-A-Y Bar and G-A-Y Late.
ArchCo says it is offering three months’
rent free to small businesses, although the
parameters that define ‘small business’
are not entirely clear. A spokesperson for
RDI REIT commented that “we continue
to engage with all our tenants and offer
support where we are able to do so. Joseph,
however, says the company has not replied
to any of his recent emails.
John James, Managing Director of Soho
Estates, spoke to Access and explained his
company’s position: “We are very aware
that the hospitality sector will be the last
out of lockdown and will then take the
longest to recover. You must also appreciate
that landlords have their own financial
obligations and are usually held by bank
covenants which if breached will result in
property companies going into liquidation.
“We have contacted all our tenants and with only a
few exceptions have come to agreement on how we help
them survive and look to recovery.”
Financial pressure
It may be in the interests of landlords to turn over new
tenants for one simple reason: existing tenants must be
negotiated with when it comes to price, but new tenants
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