Some 50 concerned tenants of Apple Tree and Syldian Court plazas in Christiana, Manchester, received one-month notices to vacate the shops, many had operated for 10 to 20 years. 

The notices which were sent out on Monday, June 9, took them by surprise, prompting them to seek help from their new Member of Parliament (MP) candidate, Ambassador Audrey Marks. 

The plazas owned by businesswoman, Sylvia Lyn of Lyn’s Funeral Home, are located in the constituency of Manchester North East where Marks was recently announced as MP Audley Shaw’s successor.
After consultation with Shaw, Marks arranged to meet with the tenants on Sunday, June 15, at Christiana High School and in a dramatic development, PNP candidate for the constituency, Valenton Wint, showed up uninvited.

However, Marks welcomed Wint and quipped: “Knowing that you are not a tenant in the plazas, I am checking if you are here early for my next meeting, which is the workers meeting, because you are intending to switch parties!”

She invited Wint to speak, and he advised the audience that: “Mrs Lyn has asked me to let the tenants know that she has wanted to visit with them, and let them know that she has rescinded the notices.” He went on to opine that, “what is needed now is for you and her to discuss whether there is a necessity for new arrangements and what it entails, and you can move forward.”

He noted that he was also interested in hearing what the options were being proposed by Marks and her team.

She thanked him for his information and advised the audience that Lyn’s message was essentially meaningless since the notices were invalid under the law, so there was nothing to rescind. 

“What is important for you [tenants], is not to panic or be caught without understanding your rights and knowing what your options are in case the notices are properly served in the immediate future. This is not a time to panic or think that within a month you are going to disrupt your business; that won’t happen,” she said.

The MP-candidate told the group that being offered long-term contracts would be one option. She also shared that there is a concern that there is an offer from an outside group to purchase the plazas. She therefore encouraged that another option would be to look at forming an association among themselves to purchase the plazas in the eventuality that they could be for sale.

Marks further reassured that out of a difficult situation, such as being given an unconscionable notice to vacate in one month, good could come.  They should therefore explore the option to purchase, which would help to protect the brand and equity they had built up over the past decades at the location. She emphasised that owning the property would contribute to building their own generational wealth.
 
Marks then shared that she had invited subject matter experts to advise them on these options, especially to explore affordable options to purchase property.

Attorney Neco Pagon of the law offices of Peter Champagnie, KC, explained to the tenants their rights under the Rent Restriction Act, which included remaining for at least six months or more if necessary and also an array of court actions.

Financial experts Terise Kettle and Carlton Stewart of Barita Investments also informed the tenants about that institution’s mortgage facilities, including graduated mortgages for small business people to explore the option of offering to purchase the building, should that be a consideration from the owner. They were advised on the option of purchasing through a Strata corporation so they could get individual titles for their shops and security of tenure for their business.
 
They also discussed making a counteroffer if the landlord wanted to increase the rent and they couldn’t immediately afford to pay the same.