Recovering commercial rent in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes is a distribution town. Its position on the M1 between London and Birmingham has made it one of the largest logistics markets in the country, and the great majority of our instructions here concern warehouse and trade property rather than shops or offices.
The industrial estates are well defined by the grid: Kiln Farm, Blakelands, Tongwell, Bleak Hall, Winterhill, Brinklow and the newer distribution parks out towards the motorway junctions. Retail and leisure sit in Central Milton Keynes and at Kingston and Westcroft. Office stock concentrates in the central business district.
A distribution unit is a strong position on paper: it holds racking, handling equipment, vehicles and a great deal of stock. The difficulty is that on a logistics floor most of that stock belongs to a customer, and a good share of the plant is on lease or hire purchase. Neither can be taken into control.
What tends to matter locally
Third-party logistics is the recurring problem. Where the tenant is a fulfilment or freight operator, the working assumption should be that almost nothing on the floor is theirs. A warehouse that looks full can be worth nothing at all to an enforcement agent, and we would rather establish that in advance than charge for finding out.
Where the tenant is a manufacturer or a trade counter rather than a logistics operator, the position is usually far better, and Milton Keynes has plenty of both.
How quickly we can be there
We aim to be with you within two hours, though being straight about it, that is rarely what decides the outcome: the compliance stage runs from the office, and the tenant first gets a written Notice of Enforcement with fourteen clear days to run before anybody attends. Most commercial arrears are settled inside that period without an attendance at all.
Where an attendance is needed in Milton Keynes we plan it around the occupier rather than around our diary, and we say honestly beforehand whether the goods on site are likely to justify the visit.
The statutory fees
Under the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 the fees are fixed by statute: a £79 compliance fee when the Notice of Enforcement is issued, and a further £247 plus 7.5% of anything above £1,900 if an enforcement visit becomes necessary, with the full statutory scale set out in full separately.
Those figures are fixed by regulation, not by us, and they are the same in Milton Keynes as anywhere else in England and Wales.
Before you instruct us
Two things decide whether CRAR can be used at all:
- The lease must be a commercial one, in writing, with no part of the property let as a dwelling.
- At least seven days' rent must be outstanding, net of VAT, interest and any deduction the tenant could properly claim, which is the statutory minimum under section 77(3) of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.
If both hold, we can usually have a Notice of Enforcement out the same working day we are instructed.