Ten retailers in a British coastal town are operating rent-free for 2 years, with no strings attached, as part of a plan to rescue the UK's 'high streets'

• Asset firm Legal & General has suspended rent for 10 businesses for two years, the NYT reports.
• Rent pauses are designed to help retailers recover from the pandemic that caused many to shut.
• Local leaders and businesses are using vacant shop space for new learning centers and art studios.

A major UK landlord has suspended rent payments for some retail outlets in a coastal British town to support their post-pandemic recovery, The New York Times reported.

Giant asset management firm Legal & General Investment Management, which owns £3.5 billion in retail properties across the UK, has paused rent payments for 10 businesses in Poole, in southwest England, for two years, according to the NYT.

Businesses also do not have to pay local property taxes, called business rates, for the same period.

The pandemic has accelerated the decline of the UK's high streets - the equivalent of the US's "main streets" - which the government said had reached a "crisis point" in 2011 in a major review. In 2020, a number of lockdowns combined with a rise in online shopping put many stores out of business.

But many landlords, businesses, and local councils anticipate a revival of in-person shopping as the country's lockdown eases, as well as a rise in the number of non-retail spaces, such as adult learning facilities and art studios, the NYT reported.

Legal & General introduced a new leasing model for businesses last year which included three-month tenancies and rents based on earnings.

"For the first time in our generation we had the opportunity to press refresh with our environments," said Denizer Ibrahim, who leads the company's retail strategy, told the NYT.

Legal & General did not immediately respond to Insider for comment.