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Who’s in charge here?

Jun 5 2011 by Ian Robson, Sunday Sun

WHAT do you think would happen if I told my landlord that I could not pay all my rent and he would have to take a 30% cut?

I would be sent away with a flea in my ear and told to face up to my responsibilities.

Eviction would follow as sure as night follows day.

Not so if you’re the bosses of troubled care home chain Southern Cross.

The company is deep in do-do and expects its landlords to accept a cut in rent.

They call it “re-structuring” which is, I suppose, an interesting definition of begging. Darlington-based Southern Cross says it expects most of its landlords to toe the line.

Why should they? Landlords cannot be held responsible if an individual tenant can’t meet his obligations and I fail to see why they have to fall over themselves to cosset a business that can’t meet its obligations.

If Southern Cross can’t balance the books perhaps it is time they took early retirement.