Liverpool Council is owed £3m in pandemic-related rental debts on the buildings it owns in the city.
A report to the council’s finance and resources select committee said rental arrears had soared since April 2020, with many businesses closed or severely limited in how they could open, limiting their ability to pay rent.
The council owns and charges rent on 400 properties across Liverpool, including St Johns Market and the shopping centre on top of Liverpool Central station.
READ MORE: Gang stole luxury cars, cash and jewellery worth more than £500,000 in organised crime spree
As well as £3m designated as “pandemic-related” debt, there is also £2.5m in disputed debt owed to the council and a further £1.5m in debt that the council is actively trying to regain.
Numerous pieces of legislation throughout the pandemic have protected renters from being pursued fully for rent arrears or being evicted for non-payment of rent.
A submission to committee members said the council is severely limited in how it can pursue Covid-related debt and said a balance had to be struck between recouping debt and supporting businesses.
The report said: “Recovery of COVID rent arrears under CRAR (Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery) is drastically reduced due to a large increase in the minimum time limits that an account has to be in arrears for.
“Corporate debt action is limited due to the backlogs in courts.
“The City Council has to balance it duties to recover income with the societal costs for business of the pandemic.
“We must therefore, whilst our powers are limited, look to develop effective recovery strategies for maximizing our income recovery whilst taking into account the individual circumstances for each business we deal with.”
The report said that the council will continue to aim to formulate plans with tenants that aim to clear arrears as quickly as possible.
However, it said that in cases where that is not possible it would still be March 2022 at the earliest before the council could start to pursue evictions based on non-payment of rent.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
