Premises rent increases

[tallblonde]

Run a limited business offering counselling and Psychotherapy.
Been in the premises for 6 yrs, always paid rent early and been a good tenant.
The current contract has had no annual rent increase.

Renewal of the premises was due on 1st Dec 25.
In May the Landlord let me know the rent would increase 30% which I'd anticipated.

I've been asking for the contract at least monthly since then.

During those months they reassured me they were 95% certain the contract would be identical (ie no annual increase).

I asked for the contract again in November's with 1st Dec renewal looming.
I finally recieved it just before Xmas.
The rent was 30% increased as anticipated.
But.... they've added in an annual 10% rent increase.

This would make it the equivalent of a 58% increase in rent over 3 yrs which feels outrageous.

All advice welcome for how to negotiate away the annual increases please.

Ps I've been looking for alternative premises over the last 12 months and there are none.

 

[Stuart_Walker]

It feels like your last sentence is the key to your dilemma.

From the landlord's POV they have probably waiting to see what the market is like at review and decided that it is a constrained supply.

I've done a few of these over the years and have found it is always worth going back and stating your case. Have a reasonable increase in mind and tell them why you feel it is fair.

Some landlords will take your points into account, some will tell you to get lost but overall, if you don't ask you don't get.

 

[Michael Loveridge]

Renewal of the premises was due on 1st Dec 25.

What do you mean by this? Did the 6 year lease come to an end on 1 December or is it still in force and 1 December is just a rent review date?

 

[tallblonde]

Renewal of the premises was due on 1st Dec 25.

What do you mean by this? Did the 6 year lease come to an end on 1 December or is it still in force and 1 December is just a rent review date?

The contract came to an end on 1st Dec.
They had told me about the price increase, but not supplied the new contract until last week.
They didn't mention 10^ annual increases, that was only evendint when I saw the contract (despite asking to see it for months).

 

[tallblonde]

It feels like your last sentence is the key to your dilemma.

From the landlord's POV they have probably waiting to see what the market is like at review and decided that it is a constrained supply.

I've done a few of these over the years and have found it is always worth going back and stating your case. Have a reasonable increase in mind and tell them why you feel it is fair.

Some landlords will take your points into account, some will tell you to get lost but overall, if you don't ask you don't get.

Thank you x

 

[Michael Loveridge]

The contract came to an end on 1st Dec.
They had told me about the price increase, but not supplied the new contract until last week.
They didn't mention 10^ annual increases, that was only evendint when I saw the contract (despite asking to see it for months).

As it's a business tenancy you are protected under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. This means that unless you agreed to contract out of the protection your lease did not come to an end on 1 December, and it continues in full force until such time as your landlord serves you with a "Section 25 notice", which must give you at least 6 months' notice before a new lease can start.

It also means that the landlord can't just put the rent up to whatever he wants, as the law says that he can only charge a fair market rent, and you have the right to apply to the court if you can't agree on the rent. This right gives you a lot of negotiating power, so you should be careful about agreeing to a level of rent that's too high.

The new lease should be checked carefully to ensure it's no more onerous than the existing one, and there is no way that you should agree to 10% annual increases unless the initial starting rent is much lower than the market rent.

You should obtain some professional advice before agreeing to anything.

 

[WaveJumper]

Couldn't agree more with Michael above and before you disappear down a rabbit hole, I would as suggested, take some proper advice before doing anything else.

If need be to find someone local and loads of useful info check out the RICS website

https://www.rics.org/dispute-resolution-service/drs-services/rent-and-property-disputes/pact-lease-renewal-disputes

 

[tallblonde]

Couldn't agree more with Michael above and before you disappear down a rabbit hole, I would as suggested, take some proper advice before doing anything else.

If need be to find someone local and loads of useful info check out the RICS website

https://www.rics.org/dispute-resolution-service/drs-services/rent-and-property-disputes/pact-lease-renewal-disputes

Thank you x