The 12 “Okays” of Christmas 2025

A seasonal checklist for landlords and tenants navigating the busiest retail period of the year 

Christmas is the most demanding time of year for retail property. Stores trade harder, shopping centres operate at full stretch, and legal obligations are tested more sharply than at any other point in the calendar.

For tenants, December sales can make the difference between profit and loss. For landlords, it is when service charge budgets are strained, common parts are under pressure, and (where relevant) turnover rent clauses face their biggest test.

To avoid January disputes, both sides need to check their leases, refresh their playbooks and agree how extra costs, risks and responsibilities will be handled. Our twelve “okays” provide a practical framework: a seasonal checklist but in many respects applicable all year round to keep trading smooth, relationships professional and outcomes predictable.

1 | Okay on trading plans

Christmas trading usually means longer opening hours, seasonal staff, and extra promotional activity. All of these interact with lease obligations. User clauses, trading-hours covenants, and centre rules can limit what occupiers can do. If these are ignored, tenants risk falling into breach, while landlords risk losing control of their schemes.

Costs rise too. Longer hours mean more security, cleaning, and maintenance. Whether those extra costs can be recovered depends on how the service charge is drafted. Landlords need confidence they can recoup legitimate expenses; tenants need to know they won’t face unbudgeted bills in January.

The safest course is to review trading plans early, obtain the necessary consents, and be transparent about how extra costs will be handled.

2 | Okay on short-term lets and pop-ups

Pop-ups and short-term lets are now a fixture of Christmas trading. From gift shops to influencer-led collaborations and circular economy concepts, temporary occupiers fill voids, drive buzz, and give retailers a chance to test physical space.

The rush to sign them up can tempt landlords to cut corners. Undocumented lettings can create problems with vacant possession, service charge recovery, insurance, or even business rates. If the arrangement looks more like a lease than a licence, and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 hasn’t been excluded, a seasonal tenant could end up with security of tenure rights.

We advise landlords to document even short deals carefully, making sure exit dates, fit-out, reinstatement, and cost recovery are clear. Tenants should also check they understand their obligations. A pop-up may only last a few weeks, but the consequences of a poorly documented arrangement can linger long after Christmas.

3 | Okay on store operations and hybrid fulfilment

December isn’t just about shopfloor sales. Many retailers now use their stores as small fulfilment hubs, repurposing stockrooms for online pick-and-pack and ramping up courier traffic. It’s a smart way to cope with festive demand, but it raises legal and operational risks.

Most leases limit use to retail trading. A store operating partly as a warehouse could be outside the permitted use. Planning permissions may also restrict servicing hours or vehicle movements, particularly in residential areas. A spike in van traffic or late-night deliveries could put the occupier in breach without anyone realising it

For landlords, hybrid use increases pressure on service yards and common parts, with knock-on costs for management and maintenance. If the lease doesn’t clearly allow recovery of those costs, the landlord may be left carrying them.

The solution is simple: be open. Tenants should check their obligations and seek consent if needed. Landlords should record what has been agreed. That way, festive fulfilment strategies will not turn into January disputes.

4 | Okay on click-and-collect and multi-channel sales

Click-and-collect is now central to Christmas trading. Customers like the certainty; retailers like the footfall. Where a lease includes a turnover rent clause, deciding which sales “belong” to the store becomes critical.

Is an online purchase collected in store part of that store’s turnover? What about items shipped from the shop floor to fulfil a web order, or refunds processed in-store for goods bought elsewhere? Each scenario shifts the numbers and, with them, the rent due.

These questions rarely create disputes about the principle of turnover rent. The friction comes from the detail, and that is why the structure of turnover clauses, and the way they capture modern trading patterns, matters so much.

5 | Okay on turnover rents

Where turnover rent is in play, the clause must do the heavy lifting. It is no longer enough simply to refer to “all sales at the premises.” Modern drafting needs to address VAT, staff discounts, gift cards, refunds, and the multi-channel transactions flagged above.

Data reporting is just as sensitive. Landlords want reliable EPOS feeds; tenants want confidentiality. Audit rights must be strong enough to test compliance but proportionate in scope. Hybrid rent models, mixing fixed and turnover elements, depend on trust in the numbers, and that trust only exists if the mechanics are clear.

Without robust definitions and practical audit rights, attribution disputes quickly escalate. Which is why, before Christmas, both sides should be checking whether their turnover provisions are still fit for purpose.

6 | Okay on pricing and promotions

Even the best-drafted turnover clauses are stress-tested by Christmas discounting. From Black Friday through to Boxing Day, sales volumes soar while margins fall. For landlords relying on turnover rent, this can mean income drops just as footfall peaks. For tenants, it can mean paying rent on heavily discounted sales that deliver little profit.

Some leases smooth this out with caps, floors or averaging mechanisms, but many don’t. Where they don’t, both sides need to run the numbers and understand the implications.

Seen together, attribution, definitions and audits, and discounting all form part of the same story – how turnover rent behaves under pressure. The festive period is when those clauses earn their keep or expose their flaws.

7 | Okay on deliveries, queues and common parts

December stretches logistics to their limits. Stores receive more deliveries than at any other time of year, courier traffic surges, and customer queues spill far beyond usual boundaries. These pressures can turn smooth trading into disruption unless managed carefully.

Planning consents often restrict servicing hours or vehicle access, particularly in retail parks with nearby housing. If those limits are breached in the rush to meet Christmas demand, both landlord and tenant can face enforcement action. On the ground, unregulated queues may block neighbouring stores, breach fire safety regulations, or frustrate anchor tenants. Waste disposal is another recurring problem. Packaging from seasonal stock can overwhelm facilities, creating fire hazards and complaints from other occupiers.

For landlords, all of this means extra cleaning, waste management and security costs. For tenants, it means potential reputational harm if customers experience disorder. Unless recovery mechanisms are clearly set out in the service charge, landlords’ risk being left with costs they cannot pass on.

The solution is proactive planning. Delivery slots, queue management strategies, and waste disposal arrangements should be agreed and communicated in advance. Clarity on how additional costs will be recovered avoids recriminations once service charge reconciliations are issued in the new year.

8 | Okay on service charge and energy

Deliveries and common parts lead directly into the wider issue of cost recovery. Christmas is when service charges face their sharpest scrutiny, because the demands on the estate increase dramatically. Longer trading hours, extended lighting, extra cleaning, and festive events all generate additional expense. Tenants often question whether these are truly recoverable, while landlords argue that without flexibility, they cannot keep schemes operational.

Rising energy costs make the debate even sharper. Lighting, heating and air conditioning are pushed harder during the festive period, often at the precise time energy markets are most volatile. On top of that, ESG obligations now require landlords and, in many cases, tenants to report carbon emissions. That means decisions about how much light or heat to provide are not just about cost but also about sustainability targets and regulatory compliance.

We advise landlords to be transparent well before December, signalling anticipated seasonal costs and how they will be recovered. Tenants should budget realistically and not assume festive extras will be absorbed. When communication is open, service charge supports rather than undermines festive trading. When it is not, disputes in January can sour relationships for the year ahead.

9 | Okay on health and safety

The operational intensity of Christmas trading also magnifies risk. More people, more displays, and more temporary structures mean more opportunities for something to go wrong. A crowded mall, a poorly secured kiosk, or a decorative installation erected without proper RAMS can all turn festive cheer into liability in an instant.

Landlords have duties to maintain safe common parts and enforce centre regulations. Tenants must ensure their own units are compliant, even when pressure to maximise sales is at its peak. Seasonal staff, often less experienced, add to the risk profile. Regulators and insurers take a strict line: if an incident occurs, they will ask whether risk assessments were carried out, whether they were acted upon, and whether documentation exists to prove it.

We encourage our clients to treat Christmas as a moment to re-test health and safety procedures rather than relax them. Crowd management plans, fire checks, and contractor RAMS for festive kiosks or decorations should be prepared in advance and signed off formally. A well-managed festive season protects both people and reputations and avoids the kind of headlines that can damage a brand long after the Christmas lights come down.

10 | Okay on repairs, reinstatement and festive works

Festive trading often brings a burst of creativity: elaborate shopfronts, additional shelving, pop-up kiosks, or the centrepiece of a giant Christmas tree. These additions can transform the customer experience, but they frequently carry legal consequences that are overlooked in the rush.

Even where installations are temporary, they can count as alterations requiring landlord consent. If consent is not obtained, tenants may inadvertently breach their lease. Reinstatement obligations are another flashpoint. Landlords may expect festive works to be removed promptly in January to restore common areas or units to their original state. Tenants, meanwhile, often want displays to remain in place into the sales season. Unless expectations are agreed in advance, disputes are almost inevitable.

Another common problem is conflict with anchor tenant rights or exclusion zones. We have seen seemingly harmless displays of just Christmas trees cause friction because they infringed protected areas. The solution lies in early planning and clear documentation. Landlords should provide written consent for works, specifying reinstatement deadlines that reflect commercial reality. Tenants should confirm obligations in advance and budget for reinstatement costs.

Handled properly, festive works enhance trading and build atmosphere. Handled poorly, they can become a liability that overshadows January recovery.

11 | Okay on trading difficulties and distress playbook

For some retailers, Christmas is the make-or-break moment. A strong December can secure survival; a weak one can trigger formal restructuring. In recent years, the range of tools available has expanded. Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs) remain familiar, but the Part 26A restructuring plan — with its ability to impose terms across creditor classes — has reshaped the dynamic. The Part A1 moratorium introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 gives companies a temporary shield from enforcement while they seek rescue options.

For landlords, this means that enforcement rights can be suspended overnight, and lease portfolios reshaped by creditor-majority votes or court orders. For tenants, these tools offer structured breathing space but also carry reputational risks and strict compliance requirements.

The Centre for Retail Research continues to record closures and job losses, a reminder that retail remains vulnerable even after periods of optimism. We encourage both landlords and tenants to monitor trading performance closely and to open dialogue early if difficulties arise. Agreeing short-term concessions, monthly rent, or revised payment schedules may be better than allowing arrears to spiral. A well-prepared distress playbook ensures that both sides can respond quickly and effectively to signs of trouble.

12 | Okay on communications

All the issues above are magnified or mitigated by one thing: communication. December crises, from courier delays to burst pipes, can escalate quickly. If decisions are made informally and left undocumented, they almost always resurface as disputes in January.

The simplest safeguard is disciplined communication. Landlords and tenants should exchange named contacts, agree response times, and confirm any concessions or variations in writing. Even a short email or signed note can prevent weeks of argument later. Communication also supports service charge transparency, ensures turnover data disputes are kept in check, and gives both sides confidence that they are working to the same plan.

In our experience, most post-Christmas disputes arise not from malice but from miscommunication. By putting professional, transparent communication at the heart of festive operations, landlords and tenants protect both trading success and long-term relationships.

Good communication is not an optional extra — it is the thread that runs through all twelve “okays,” and the habit that turns seasonal preparation into year-round risk management.

Plan early

Christmas magnifies every part of the landlord–tenant relationship, but the season also rewards those who forward plan, communicate clearly, and document decisions properly.

The twelve “okays” are a framework for doing just that. They are not seasonal gimmicks but practical checks that help avoid disputes and safeguard value.

At Newmanor, we encourage clients to treat them not just as festive housekeeping, but as part of year-round risk management. The festive season may be the sharpest stress test, but the lessons apply all year. Certainty is the best gift landlords and tenants can give each other, and it begins with making sure everything is “okay” when it matters most.