Retail property owners are failing to allow retailers to switch to paying rent monthly, the British Retail Consortium claimed today.

According to a BRC survey of 19 retailers, just 12% of retail property leases are on monthly terms, despite the recession. Of those retailers which had been allowed to switch to monthly terms, nearly 90% have been penalised with additional charges.

However, flexibility is becoming more commonplace on new deals. Since January 2008 two-thirds of new leases have been on monthly terms, the survey found.

“One in eight leases on monthly terms is shameful. Landlords should offer monthly rental terms on all leases where retailers ask for it,” said BRC director general Stephen Robertson. “Demanding to be paid three months in advance belongs to a bygone era when horseback was the quickest form of communication,”

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