Varma will not be collecting rent from its café and restaurant tenants in May and June due to the coronavirus epidemic. The reason behind the reprieve in rental payments is a legislative decree to close cafés and restaurants, with some exceptions, for two months in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The decision on the rent reprieve applies to food-service businesses that are tenants in Varma’s wholly owned business premises. Under the legislative decree, it is not possible for cafés and restaurants to continue their business as usual. The number of customers has considerably declined, and some restaurant owners have closed their doors.
“As a property owner, Varma wants to support its tenants in this changing operating environment. We believe it is important for thriving companies to have the conditions they need to continue their operations even after this exceptional situation. We are now giving restaurant owners a two-month reprieve in their rental payments,” says Ilkka Tomperi, Investment Director, Real Estate Investments.
Varma will not collect rents for a period of two months, i.e. the period specified in the decree on the closure of restaurants. Varma is in contact with the tenants concerned.
Varma grants flexibility in business rents to entrepreneurs facing special difficulties
The global spread of the coronavirus has placed companies and society as a whole in an exceptional situation. The week before last, Varma stated that it will support its commercial premise tenants whose business has been hit especially hard by this exceptional situation.
Varma gave these entrepreneurs the possibility to freeze their rental invoices for two months – May and June. A separate payment plan for the frozen rental payments will be drawn up with the tenants. This decision was made to give entrepreneurs the conditions for continuing their business operations also after the exceptional situation.
“The corona crisis has been an extraordinarily powerful event that has very rapidly caused extensive negative financial impacts. It is important for society and the economy to recover from the shock we have faced as quickly as possible. We want as many of our customers as possible to also be able to enjoy that recovery, and that is why we want to help these companies during the worst months wherever possible,” says Tomperi.