Rent Reviews
Commercial property rent reviews and business rent reviews
Background – Commercial Rent Reviews and Business Rent Reviews
Most leases of commercial property or business premises make provision for rent reviews on a regular basis. The most common way of achieving this is to include provision for rent reviews to open market rental value every 3 or 5 years. The procedure and basis for implementing the rent review is usually set out in detail in the rent review clause of the lease.
Although this sounds straightforward, rent reviews have given rise to a substantial amount of litigation over the years. To achieve the best possible result requires the following:
- Relevant open market rental evidence and the ability to analyse, interpret and apply that evidence correctly.
- A thorough working knowledge of the case law relating to commercial rent reviews. This will ensure that critical deadlines are not unwittingly missed. It will also ensure that the correct valuation basis is adopted.
- A thorough working knowledge of the valuation techniques used in commercial rent reviews.
- Negotiating skills and experience of negotiating commercial rent reviews or business reviews.
Our Skills – Commercial Rent Review Surveyors
Mackenzie Associates are commercial property experts and rent review specialists. We have the following skills and experience:
- As commercial rent review surveyors with over 20 years' experience of successfully negotiating commercial property rent reviews at all levels, we have excellent technical knowledge and a thorough understanding of the relevant case law.
- We also have access to rent review and open market evidence through our database and market contacts.
- Our ability to correctly interpret and weigh the significance of each transaction plus our excellent rent review negotiating skills, enables us to achieve the best possible results for all of our clients.
- We consistently produce excellent rent review results.
Our experience as commercial rent review surveyors incorporates a wide variety of commercial property and business premises throughout London and the south east of England, including the following:
- High street shops
- Shopping centre retail units
- Office suites large and small
- Office buildings large and small
- Restaurants and wine bars
- Industrial units and warehouses
- Supermarkets and convenience stores
- Showrooms
- Telecommunications sites
Dispute Resolution - Commercial Rent Review Arbitration & Independent Expert Referral
Commercial property rent review disputes are normally resolved by one of the two following methods:
- Commercial rent review arbitration requires an arbitrator to be appointed in accordance with the Arbitration Act 1996. This can be done either by agreement between the parties or by application to an independent body such as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
- Referral to independent expert determination is similar in some respects to arbitration but there are a number of important differences. The most significant are that the Arbitration Act 1996 does not apply and the expert may rely upon his or her own market knowledge rather than just the evidence submitted.
The lease will specify the method of dispute resolution and the appointment procedure.
Our thorough knowledge of the rent review dispute resolution process also enables us to advise you on the best tactics to adopt to achieve an efficient and cost effective result for your rent review. Our rent review team includes Ian Mackenzie, who is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors President's Panel of Arbitrators and Independent Experts. He is frequently appointed by the President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to act as arbitrator or independent expert in commercial property rent review disputes. He therefore has excellent knowledge of the dispute resolution process for commercial property rent reviews.