Property, construction and development

In outline, the immediate impact of coronavirus on real estate falls into the following main areas:

• For commercial lettings, issues are about obligations, access to properties and impact on rent and service charge (see under “Premises”);
• For short term residential lettings, the same issues but also how the premises might be affected by an occupant/visitor contracting Covid-19;
• For buildings let on long residential leases, issues around maintenance and cleanliness of common parts and service charge recovery;
• For property transactions, the risk of delay putting a contracting party in breach, e.g.:
  • failure to perform mandated steps in the transaction
  • a critical person contracting Covid-19 and going into self-isolation
  • a premises needing to be deep cleaned
  • delay in execution of a document, whether signature or witnessing or returning to lawyers
• Funding for acquisitions or developments being impeded by delays in complying with loan pre-conditions;
• Planning permissions and other statutory consents being delayed by staff shortages at the local council or elsewhere;
• Construction and development obligations being affected by:
  • shortages of people to carry out general construction operations
  • interruptions in the supply of relevant materials
  • absences of key individuals in areas such as design, survey, valuation, certification
  • delays in the issue of necessary statutory or other consents
• Values of properties, particularly retail and leisure, may decline (at least in the short term), potentially affecting:
  • banking covenants owed to current lenders
  • funding for acquisitions and developments
  • balance sheets and rental flows

If you are concerned about any issues relating to your property or development get in touch with one of our team who can help.