Arun District Council gives rent holiday to commercial tenants
Arun District Council announced last week that it is giving a rent holiday to its small businesses in the crucially important Retail, Leisure and Hospitality sector for the three months starting 1 April 2020 and will review it further if needed.
This is in addition to the exemption from business rates for all in the same sectors recently announced by the government.
Dr James Walsh, Leader of Arun District Council (Liberal Democrat) said:
“These sectors are crucial to our local economy in Arun, and we are determined to do everything we can to support our local small traders, many of them family businesses.
“The government scheme means that they can cancel direct debits for Business Rates for the year starting April 2020 if in those sectors, but our rent holiday means that the immediate worry of paying rent to the council starting 1 April is removed for at least three months.
“Specifically, for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs*) within the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors that rent premises from Arun District Council, we will also be making a facility available to defer the payment of rent falling due in April, May and June for six months.
“All our business tenants will be written to as soon as possible this week to set out the six month deferral facility, which businesses are eligibility, that it will apply to bills that are sent out in April-June, and the process to follow if they would like to take up this facility.
“We have also secured 50 accommodation units for rough sleepers for the next three months for all those in Arun District, and these are now in operation with support from Turning Tides and Stonepillow. This will mean much reduced risk both to the individuals concerned, and members of the public in contact with them.
“We are keeping our vital services running as much as possible as far as our household rubbish, recycling and green waste collection are concerned. We are experiencing some disruption to recycling collections but are working hard to manage this process and ask for your patience in what are proving to be challenging times.
We are working closely with West Sussex County Council in support of the Community Hub plan. This provides a dedicated website address and helpline number. West Sussex County Council are co-ordinating the county community response and will be taking online applications and phone calls identifying the need for support for individuals. WSCC will triage applications and assess the level of need and direct it appropriately. With the County Council doing this, we ensure health and social support mechanisms are put in place and any safeguarding issues can be addressed. This co-ordinated approach will avoid duplication of effort and the risk of anybody slipping through gaps. We have a link to the hub on our website.