Third call to apply for COVID – Rent support
The COVID - Rent programme, partly compensating for rent-related expenses for selected retail outlets and facilities providing services, will open for the third time. The third call directly follows the previous call. Moreover, the deadline for submitting applications within the second call has been extended until 4 February 2021. The third call has been open since 5 February 2021 and will continue until 8 April 2021.
As in the second call, applicants shall be entitled to compensation equal to 50% of rent paid for the relevant period from 1 September 2020 to 31 December 2020, with a maximum subsidy of CZK 10 million per each individual call per applicant.
Applicants entitled to support are facilities that were forced to close their operations due to the government’s resolution of 23 December 2020. A key change is the extension of support to facilities that were not closed due to the government resolution (as they were granted an exception) but nonetheless reported a 66% decrease in sales for the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with the fourth quarter of 2019 as a result of the COVID-19-related measures. Applicants may include, e.g., flower shops.
The third call introduces simplifications upon the completion of applications: in particular, lessors’ affidavits confirming the existence of lease relationships will no longer have to include officially verified signatures. Also, the lessor and the lessee being related parties shall no longer be an obstacle; the only condition is that the applicant and the lessor are not an identical individual.
Considering our experience with previous calls, we recommend filing an application sufficiently in advance to avoid any technical problems due to possible system failures during the last days before the filing deadline.