Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022

Proposals for resolving the matter of relief from payment

11 Proposals for resolving the matter of relief from payment

(1) A reference to arbitration must include a formal proposal for resolving the matter of relief from payment of a protected rent debt.

(2) The other party to the arbitration may put forward a formal proposal in response within the period of 14 days beginning with the day on which the proposal under subsection (1) is received.

(3) A formal proposal under subsection (1) or (2) must be accompanied by supporting evidence.

(4) Each party may put forward a revised formal proposal within the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the party gives a formal proposal to the other party under subsection (1) or (2).

(5) A revised formal proposal must be accompanied by any further supporting evidence.

(6) The periods in subsections (2) and (4) may be extended—

(a) by agreement between the parties, or

(b) by the arbitrator where the arbitrator considers that it would be reasonable in all the circumstances.

(7) In this section “formal proposal” means a proposal which is—

(a) made on the assumption that the reference is not dismissed for a reason set out in section 13(2) or (3),

(b) expressed to be made for the purposes of this section, and

(c) given to the other party and the arbitrator.

12 Written statements

(1) This section applies to any written statement provided to the arbitrator by a party (whether made by the party or another person) which relates to a matter relevant to the arbitration.

(2) The written statement must be verified by a statement of truth.

(3) The written statement may be disregarded by the arbitrator if it is not so verified.