Give catering businesses rent decrease for corona-closures: Attorney General

The owners of catering establishments should be given a discount on their rent for the months in which they had to close due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Attorney General said in advice to the Supreme Court. Restaurant- and bar owners are entitled to discount because they could not have foreseen the pandemic when they signed their lease, the Attorney General said, NOS reports.

The Attorney General took a look at this topic for the Supreme Court after various disputes on who should bear the costs of the months-long catering closure - the tenant or the landlord - got conflicting rulings in the lower courts. The Supreme Court is the highest authority in these kinds of cases.

The lower courts also differed in how they calculated rental discounts, when they awarded these. Some looked only at the catering business' turnover, while others also took government support like the TVL fixed costs allowance into account. The Attorney General advised that the second method be used. Adding the TVL support to the turnover when calculating discount will result in a lower discount for the tenant.

This advice brings the end to the rental conflicts one step closer, tenancy lawyer Sharbel Goriya said to NOS. "We still have to wait for the judgement of the Supreme Court itself. But in general, the advice of the Attorney General is often followed."