CAMPAIGN FOR FAIRER RETAIL RENTS

That this House congratulates those local authorities that have pledged their support to the British Retail Consortium's campaign to end the archaic practice of landlords demanding shop rents three months in advance by accepting retail rental payments on a monthly basis; praises them for leading by example; urges other councils and private landlords to follow suit, thereby helping their tenants continue to trade in an increasingly difficult marketplace; recognises that quarterly rental payments impose severe cashflow pressures on businesses and cost retailers an extra £145 million a year; and acknowledges that, in recent years, many well-known retailers and countless smaller shops have disappeared from the high street as adverse trading conditions and serious cost inflation have combined to erode margins and that greater flexibility in commercial leases would go a long way in helping to reverse this trend and would help the United Kingdom's retail industry to prosper.