More Crawley neighbourhood parade traders falling behind on rent

During a meeting on Monday (September 5), councillors were told that, on March 31 2020, the borough council was owed £444,000 in arrears.

That figure now stands at £818,000 – with five traders having amassed a total of £314,000 between them.

Dealing with the build-up of ‘unacceptably high tenant debt’ was one of 19 recommendations made by a neighbourhood parades scrutiny panel, chaired by Bob Lanzer (Con, Pound Hill South & Worth).

One of those recommendations suggested that it would be better to end a tenancy early rather than allowing a debt to increase when there was no prospect of repayment.

Mr Lanzer said payment plans were in place for many of the debts – but not all traders were co-operating.

He added: “Sometimes we have businesses which will not engage with the council on payment plans, but will engage with the council when it comes to [receiving] grants.”

The other 18 recommendations from the panel covered areas such as safety on the parades, the essential/traditional and desirable businesses which could set up shop, and the need for rent negotiations to be effective so that traders weren’t faced with an unpleasant surprise.

The 19 recommendations will be sent to the cabinet for approval during a meeting on Wednesday (September 7).

Leader Michael Jones said: “I have been anything but relaxed about arrears building up on our parades.

“Because ultimately I am very conscious that this helps us deliver a high level of standards and provision of services for the council .

“This helps considerably towards that.”