The British Retail Consortium has been critical of commercial landlords for not being more flexible though the recent period of financial instability. Many retailers have requested to switch terms that they have previously agreed. So many in the commercial property world are frustrated by the criticism of Landlords for not accepting what many see as a new set of rules of the game.
It is most unfortunate that more cannot be done to assist struggling retailers, but many landlords are faced with equally challenging business issues. The days of re-financing your problems always are just a pleasant memory, and as most landlords are directly responsible to investors, shareholders, and bankers most are unable to help even if it made commercial sense.
In fact without the intervention of many landlords the high street would have lost a few more big names. The difficulty is that many believe landlords “rake in the money”, but fail to understand that most of their income is swiftly dispatched to investors, shareholders, and bankers. This leaves many landlords simply trading increasingly narrow margins.