A Personal Testimonial – Thank you
16 June 2025“When asked what work I do, I say I argue for a living—and sometimes it spills over into my personal life.”
My father was a chartered surveyor, BSc (Est Man) FRICS, FAI. Of Fineman Lever & Co, Mr Fineman founded Dorrington Investment in 1936, Dorrington Investment PLC – primarily a residential property investment and development company – listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1959 until acquired by South Africa’s Schlesinger Group (Hanover Acceptances Ltd) and taken private in 1980. (Dorrington is still going strong.)
In 1967, after leaving the City of London School, my career in the commercial property market started at Montagu Evans & Son, in central London. I passed the stage 1 exam for the Chartered Auctioneers’ and Estate Agents’ Institute – in 1919, the CAI founded the College of Estate Management, and long after merged with the RICS – and was about to sit stage 2 when I quit. In 1971, I worked at my father’s estate agency branch in Harrow, NW London, where I set up a commercial property department before becoming an equity partner.
The 1970s oil crisis inflation introduced open market rent reviews at 3, 4, and 5 yearly intervals, replacing the typical 21-year lease with fixed increases every 7 years. In 1974, the Counter-Inflation (Business Rents) (Transition) Order limited rents to as at 5 November 1972 – paving the way for landlords and tenants to obtain premiums that bore no relationship to the capital value of the difference between the passing rent and estimated rental value.
I thank Trevor Aldridge, the first solicitor to become a QC, for what he said at a conference, about the problems caused by solicitors not liaising with surveyors on leases, that inspired me in 1975 to launch my practice as The Rent Review Specialist—before setting out to become one. To begin with, I had the field to myself. Of course, there were rent reviews before, but back-office, not front line. At the time, it was contrary to RICS rules for chartered surveyors to promote themselves as specialists, but I’m not a chartered surveyor.
The publicity generated soon put a stop to that, The RICS relaxed its rules. When the floodgates opened, the commercial property market became awash with copy-cats.
It is challenging, ups-and-downs along the way. During the 1980s, an unrelated direction involving a spare-time vocation tempted, but aligning my interests, concentrating on shops and industrial property, has held me in good stead. I collect information. I am transferring my law library of circa 11,000 items onto a private website: for CPD, re-reading everything.
As leases have become more template-oriented, so the flaws enabling tenants to exploit leave landlords in the lurch. I prefer bespoke leases, despite the extra costs to the client, drafted for the property and the availability of evidence. A review to open market rent whose valuation methodology depends on what else is out there presupposes supportive comparable evidence. The commercial property market is for landlords. Despite the commercial purpose of a rent review to keep pace with the changing value of money, a well-advised tenant can minimise an increase. A single word or phrase can often result in a substantial difference in rent.
I haven’t personally earned as much money as perhaps I should have done, but not only have I created what is nowadays a very profitable industry for lawyers and surveyors, but have also made a fortune for landlords and saved a lot of money for tenants. Not having any successors, my way to hand on is to contribute to market intelligence and professional wisdom, as I have done regularly since 1975 through my newsletters and writings and will continue to do so until…
Thank you for your help, advice, and recommendations to use my services.
I look forward to helping you in some way.
Michael Lever
The Rent Review Specialist
Established 1975; and in June 2025: 50 years help@michaellever.co.uk
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