This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Rent Relief for Places Of Worship & Community Institutions
Due to the threat of Coronavirus, faith communities gathering together for prayer and worship have been instructed by the government to cease in order to minimise the spread of this virus.
However they're still required to pay their rent & service charges and this will be impossible.
More details
Places of Worship Premises, whether private or council are still expected to pay their rent.
The majority of Places Of Worship and other community institutions rely on voluntary contributions from the regular congregation and service users in order to exist and deliver services, and this is not possible with the current circumstances of COVID-19.
We would like to request for a government rent-waiver, until it's safe to re-open.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.
Suspending payments for rent is a matter for individual landlords, and not the UK Government or Parliament.
If you want the Government to encourage lenders, landlords and utilities to freeze payments during lockdown, you may wish to sign this petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/302256
You could start a new petition calling on the Government to set up a fund to reimburse tenants, including religious institutions, that are contractually obliged to continue paying rent but are unable to make use of the premises they rent as a result of coronavirus.
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.