Nothin’ goin’ on but the rent

Commercial rent arrears recovery (CRAR) has had a long gestation. The outline of the scheme is set out in Pt 3 and Sch 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (TCEA 2007). Its implementation however was delayed to allow consultation with interested groups. This has now happened and the result is the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1894) (TCGR 2013). They bring CRAR into effect and set out the procedure that landlords must follow.

Modernisation

CRAR is meant to modernise and codify a difficult and ancient body of law. Distress, although quick and cheap, was thought to give landlords an unfair advantage over non-secured creditors and cause potentially unnecessary disruption to tenants’ businesses. It was however (and partly for that reason) relatively effective.

CRAR introduces more checks and balances, but as a result will be a slower and more costly process. More seriously the need to serve advance notice, which gives tenants time to remove goods before