header-logo header-logo

07 May 2009 / Mark Sefton , Cameron Lawes
Issue: 7368 / Categories: Features , Landlord&tenant , Property
printer mail-detail

Rent in administration

In rental default cases landlords are often caught in the middle, say Cameron Lawes & Mark Sefton

* * * * * *

Here is a recurring theme of the current recession. A landlord has let some premises to a tenant. The tenant is overburdened with debt, but nevertheless it has a sound underlying business. The simple solution? It puts itself into administration, and the administrator then sells the business to a new company formed for that purpose by the outgoing management team. The business carries on just as before, but now it is free of its debts. The creditors, on the other hand, are left to claw back the debt out of a share of the proceeds got in by the administrator from the sale of the business. Most of the debt will, of course, have to be written off. But where does the landlord fit into this unhappy picture?

What the landlord will almost certainly find is that the premises are now being occupied, not by the old company, or by the administrator, but by the Newco, which is

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Partner hire strengthens global infrastructure and energy financing practice

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Legal director bolsters international expertise in dispute resolution team

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

NEWS

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
back-to-top-scroll