As a UK Commercial Tenant, How Can I Appeal My Rent Increase? 

Summary

• If your commercial lease includes a rent review clause, your landlord can periodically increase your rent based on factors such as inflation, market value, or a fixed percentage.
• You have the right to challenge a rent increase by issuing a counter-notice, negotiating with your landlord, or escalating to a third-party dispute resolution process outlined in your lease.
• If the dispute remains unresolved, you may apply to court, though this is costly; you must continue paying rent throughout the process, and any increase can be backdated to the original review date.
• This article is a plain-English guide to appealing a commercial rent review in the UK, written for business tenants by LegalVision, a commercial law firm.
• LegalVision specialises in advising clients on commercial leasing and rent review disputes.

Tips for Businesses

Check your lease for rent review clauses and any counter-notice deadlines before responding to a rent increase. Keep paying rent at the current rate during a dispute to avoid breach. If negotiation fails, use your lease’s dispute resolution process before considering court action.

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On this page

• Why Rent Increases 
• Notice of Rent Increase
• What to Check Before Challenging a Rent Review
• Appeal  
• Key Takeaways
• Frequently Asked Questions

When you lease commercial property to occupy business premises, you pay rent in return to your commercial landlord. Your commercial lease agreement will specify the amount of rent you must pay. However, it is unlikely that this rent amount will remain the same throughout your tenancy. For instance, if your lease agreement contains a rent review clause, it could increase. However, you may be able to appeal your rent increase. This article will explain the procedure to appeal your rent increase.

Why Rent Increases 

Your rent amount for your commercial premises may increase if your lease agreement has a rent review clause. This allows your landlord to review your rent periodically, typically every three to five years. After review, they may adjust your rent according to growth and development changes in the area where it is located. For example, factors like inflation and retail development can increase property values or associated costs. 

There are various things your landlord may base their assessment on, such as:

• a periodic or Retail Price Index assessment;
• fixed rent increase;
• an open-market assessment; or
• an assessment based on turnover.

Notice of Rent Increase

If your rent increases due to a rent review, your landlord should give you notice as set out in the lease agreement.

If you are unhappy with the rent increase, you may have the right to delay paying the proposed new amount of rent where your lease allows you to challenge the review amount. In this case, you would continue to pay the old amount of rent. You and the landlord would then try to agree to a new rent level. Remember that while you may be able to delay payment of the increased rent, typically, a landlord can claim back payment if the rent was meant to increase from a particular date. Often, they can also charge interest on the shortfall amount. 

Where you are challenging a market review, you will often have 28 days to give a counter-notice to the landlord if you disagree with the rent increase, and you and your landlord can try to negotiate a new rental amount. It is advisable to take legal advice before you respond.

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What to Check Before Challenging a Rent Review

Before you respond to a rent review notice, check these key things in your lease:

• the trigger date – your lease will state when the rent review takes effect. Missing this date can limit your options;
• the review method – is it market rent, RPI, or fixed increase? Each method has different rules for challenging the outcome;
• time limits – many leases set strict deadlines for serving a counter-notice. Missing them can mean you lose the right to challenge entirely; and
• upward-only clauses – some commercial leases include an upward-only rent review clause. This means your rent can only stay the same or increase; it cannot go down, even if market rents have fallen.

Understanding these terms before you respond puts you in a much stronger position. If your lease is unclear, ask a solicitor to review it before you act.

Appeal  

If you and your landlord cannot agree on a new rent amount after a rent review, you may be able to appeal. For instance, you might appeal where you believe that the rent increase might be:

• unfair; or
• breaches the terms of your commercial lease.

Dispute Procedure

When you appeal a rent change after a rent review, you must follow the ‘third-party dispute resolution’ procedure or the ‘alternative Dispute resolution’ (ADR) provisions in your lease agreement if your agreement has these. The detail should be in your rent review clause. 

When you appeal a rent increase, the procedure will generally involve an independent surveyor or an arbitrator who will aim to decide what your new rent level will be going forward or whether your rent amount will remain the same. However, the role each plays is slightly different as follows:

• an arbitrator will take both your and your landlord’s arguments about the rental amount and then decide on what the new rent will be, and
• an independent expert will not take into account the view of you or your landlord but use their expertise to decide on your new rental amount.

Your argument must be realistic and reasonable when you appeal your new rent amount. If you are not, the third party in charge of the dispute procedure can award costs against you. The same applies to your landlord. 

Seeking legal advice is advisable before taking the appeal route. When you dispute your rental amount, it can take up to two months and could cost you approximately £1000.

Court

When you appeal a commercial rent review, and you are not content with the decisions of the third party through the dispute procedure, you may be able to appeal to a court. However, this process can be costly.

The court may have to decide what the new rental amount will be.

Rent

As a commercial tenant, it is essential to note that when you appeal an increase in rent due to a rent review, you still need to pay rent while the appeal is in progress. However, you will generally pay it at the old rate, and once there is a result of the appeal and a new rent is in place, you start to pay this. 

However, as noted above, where the rent increases, your landlord can backdate it to the date of the rent review. You will be asked to pay any deficit between that and the old rent for the appeal period. This may include interest in the increase between the old and new rent.  

Key Takeaways

If you dispute your new rent amount after a commercial rent review, you may be able to appeal it. The first step is to let your landlord know you disagree through a counter notice to their formal notice about the increase. Then, if you cannot agree on the increased rental amount, you should take the dispute procedure as outlined by your commercial lease. This will involve a third party, such as an arbitrator or an independent advisor. The third party will decide on a new rental amount in the future. If you disagree with this, you may take the issue to court to decide the new rent amount.

Both procedures can be costly and timely, so you should seek legal advice.  

LegalVision provides ongoing legal support for businesses through our fixed-fee legal membership. Our experienced leasing lawyers help businesses manage contracts, employment law, disputes, intellectual property, and more, with unlimited access to specialist lawyers for a fixed monthly fee. To learn more about LegalVision’s legal membership, call 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

Frequently Asked Questions