Would a National Early Vacancy Insurance Scheme work…?
I’m hoping it’s something #legal and #property colleagues might have some thoughts on.
The idea is to help us overcome two especially tricky kinds of empty unit:
+ Those where the tenant has left with time still in their lease and so continues to pay rent (and often rates etc too) until term is reached, a surrender is agreed or a new tenant takes over (on assignment). Those working on tackling #highstreet vacancy know these outcomes are difficult and as a result rarely achieved, and the place often ends up with a long-time empty, sometimes with the old branding still up as a grim reminder of what it’s lost;
+ Similarly, where the tenant goes into administration and the landlord and place have to wait for that all to work its slow way through the system.
So – on behalf of our town and city centres and neighbour businesses – we need a way to speed these through. Hence my insurance idea we’ll call NEVIS for short.
This is what I’m thinking and would really appreciate it if technical expert colleagues could chip in…
On signing the lease a tenant would pay into an insurance policy a sum that would be added to a national fund. If they left early for either of the above reasons the fund would pay out to cover any remaining rent to the landlord plus an extra amount so the place could get the frontage looking the best it can (signage taken down, paint refresh etc).
I can see a number of flaws and it’d need conditions and timescales, but hopefully it’s a conversation starter we can build on.
I’d love to hear your thoughts…
