The Property Industry Group (PI Group) has increased and extended its assistance and relief guideline for retail tenants.

The PI Group launched an initial guideline for assistance and relief for retail tenants on April 7 and, in response to the extended lockdown, has now announced new guidelines to offer greater relief to all affected retailers, especially the hardest-hit small, medium-sized and microenterprise (SMME) retailers.

To this effect, the PI Group has increased the extent of assistance, introduced more retailer categories, provided additional options for some retailers and extended the benefits from two to three months – April, May and June.

However, the retail tenant assistance and relief guidelines exclude office, logistics, warehousing, industrial, healthcare, hospitality and other tenants.

Instead, the PI Group suggests that tenants in these sectors should discuss their specific situations directly with their landlords, who will consider them on a case-by-case basis without reference to the retail tenant assistance and relief guidelines.

While SMME retailers are the focus of the initiative, the assistance guidelines offer relief to all affected retailers, regardless of size. 

To this effect, the PI Group has proposed that SMME retailers are given rental discounts of up to 100% for April, with further substantial rental discounts and interest-free rental deferrals for May and June, respectively.

Adding to its relief impacts, the PI Group reiterates its commitment to continue paying its suppliers in full, including cleaning and security providers, and taking on the increased cost of enhanced hygiene to protect against the spread of Covid-19.

The PI Group is also paying its rates and taxes, which it says is “vital in supporting the sustainability of municipalities countrywide and by extension supporting the grass level communities and households among which both property and retail sectors conduct business”.

PI Group spokesperson Estienne de Klerk encourages retailers to pursue all avenues of support available to them.

The property industry guidelines allocate less support to retailers that have insurance cover or receive relief from other sources in order to focus benefits on retail tenants that don’t qualify for other assistance.

The industry’s assistance and relief guidelines still stipulate that all tenants with accounts in good standing at February 29 can be assured that there will not be any evictions during the lockdown period applicable to them, and they will qualify for some form of assistance from participating landlords.

The initiative targets preserving jobs – for retailers, their suppliers and service providers – and to qualify for the relief benefits, retail tenants will need to undertake not to retrench staff during the relief period.

The PI Group has also set out further detail in respect of rental relief, discounts and interest-free deferrals (please refer to attached document).

The updated guidelines include the PI Group’s proposal to the Clothing Retailer Group, which represents The Foschini Group, Truworths, Mr Price Group, Woolworths and Pepkor.

Despite constructive negotiations between the groups and considerable compromises on both sides, the PI Group laments that it has been unable to reach an agreement on the extent of the rental relief.

The property industry and clothing retailers have, however, jointly compiled and submitted a proposal to government advising on the safe reopening of non-essential retail in shopping centres.

“Shopping centres play a huge societal role in the South African economy, providing goods, services and information to their communities. The country’s shopping centres are strongly driven to be part of the solution, not only by giving people a safe and hygienic place to acquire goods and services but by protecting jobs and helping to get the country back on its feet as fast as possible after the lockdown,” De Klerk comments.