Q. I am the Landlord of shop premises and the Tenant is in arrears of rent and also hasn't paid the insurance. However, the shop is fully stocked with valuable equipment and I wondered therefore if I could threaten to take the equipment if he doesn't pay?
A. Indeed you can. As a matter of general law, a landlord is allowed (via a bailiff) to seize and either retain a tenant's goods pending payment of the outstanding rent or to sell them and retain the proceeds in payment of the outstanding rent. Legally, this is known as "distress", and a landlord can use this remedy whether or not the lease includes such a right.
"Distress" is a relatively cheap and fast remedy and it can be extremely effective in the right circumstances. However, it applies only to outstanding rent and therefore, generally speaking, would not be available in respect of other outstanding sums (such as the insurance premium you refer to) unless the lease allows this. We would therefore have to check your lease to see whether you could use distress to recover the insurance premium here.
There are also other remedies available to you and we would recommend you sit down with a solicitor and discuss all of the circumstances and the various remedies before deciding upon the best rent recover strategy for you.
