It is encouraging to see reported today real signs of forward thinking by landlords who realise that unless they share the pain of their tenants their pool of occupiers will reduce drastically in the future.  This shows how far we have come from the bad old days when landlords acquired their outdated reputation of taking tenants for all they are worth.

Not only British Land but Network Rail, TfL and Gentian have delayed or even cancelled rents due tomorrow on their commercial real estate portfolios.  I take my hat off to the brave, compassionate and unprecedented behaviour of these organisations.

The cynics amongst you might have spotted that the government have introduced restrictions on landlords terminating certain business tenancies by forfeiture prior to 30 June 2020 (that is, beyond the June quarter day, when the next three months' rent is usually due) and you might think that the landlords have no choice.  But that is not so - the concessions some landlords are giving go well beyond what the government's restrictions. 

These moves prove that moral correctness and good business sense can be one and the same thing.