Rent arrears are part of life for many commercial landlords. Sometimes it’s a tenant who’s always a few days late but eventually pays. Other times it’s a business that starts missing payments altogether. The tricky part isn’t spotting the arrears – it’s knowing when patience stops being helpful and starts costing you money.
One late payment on its own rarely leads anywhere. Most landlords expect the odd delay and are willing to give a bit of leeway, especially if the tenant communicates and has a good track record. Problems tend to creep in when delays become routine or explanations keep changing. That’s often the point where arrears start to grow faster than anyone expects.
Leaving the situation to drift can make things harder to fix. The more unpaid rent builds up, the less realistic it becomes that the tenant will ever clear it in full. It can also weaken your position if you later need to take action, particularly if you’ve already accepted late payments without challenge.
Most situations come back to the lease sooner or later. It’s the document that spells out when rent should be paid and what happens if it isn’t. That said, landlords don’t always jump straight to what’s written on paper. Often, there’s an attempt to sort things out informally first, especially if the relationship has been good up to that point. If the tenant’s cash flow issue is genuinely short-term and they’re open about it, a simple repayment plan can be enough to get things back on track.
That said, there’s a difference between a temporary issue and an ongoing one. As a rough guide, many landlords allow around three weeks after the due date for rent to be brought up to date. If payments are still outstanding beyond that, or promises keep slipping, it’s usually a sign that firmer action is needed.
Sometimes arrears are a sign of something bigger going on behind the scenes. If a tenant is facing insolvency or administration, delays are rarely short-lived. Even with the best intentions, catching up can be unrealistic. In those situations, landlords may have little choice but to start thinking about formal action, not to apply pressure, but to stop the problem growing further.
Eviction isn’t always the first or only answer. There are recovery options that sit somewhere in the middle, and in some cases they’re enough to resolve matters. One example is Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery, which allows enforcement agents to recover unpaid rent in a controlled way, provided the rules are followed carefully.
Sometimes, though, eviction is unavoidable. If arrears continue to grow, other lease terms are being ignored, or the tenant has a history of default, the chances of full recovery reduce over time. Whether through peaceable re-entry or the courts, regaining possession may be the only way to protect your position and move forward.
There isn’t a magic figure where eviction suddenly becomes the obvious choice. Every case turns on its own facts. What matters is whether the arrears are realistically recoverable and how much risk you’re carrying if things continue as they are.
At Churchill Recovery Solutions, we help commercial landlords make sense of these situations early on. Looking at what’s really happening, rather than what might happen, often makes the next step much clearer – and far less costly in the long run.