All posts tagged "2025"
A conflict of interest issue
(2025 Oct). Here’s a conflict of interest issue. Surveyor A works for a firm of surveyors. Firm is instructed to do rent reviews for a multiple retailer. Directive nil increase. A gets to work and uses every trick in the book to achieve the client’s objective. I am instructed to act for a landlord whose […]
Shop Investment – a lost cause?
(2025 Oct) – I have said this before, and I’ll say it again, not in the same words, there are a heck of a lot of private investors that have no idea what they’re letting themselves in for when they buy shop property investments. Reality hits home on renewal of the lease. The cushion, of […]
Statement of Agreed Facts and Comparable Evidence
(2025 Sep) – On referral and in the process of agreeing a Statement of Agreed Facts, it appears – in my experience – to be taken for granted that the SOAF will contain proforma of so-called comparable evidence even if neither party’s surveyor has had any involvement with the evidence premises. And not only reliance […]
VOA areas and rent review
(2025 Aug: LinkedIn) – VOA areas and rent review. In many places, and often contrary to what is on-line, the VOA zoning methodology is not 6.1m/6.1m/6.1m (20’/20’/20′). but 4.57m/ 7.62m/ 6.1m (15’/25’/20′). Where VOA areas are relied on assuming 20/20/20 when they’re not is a common trip-up for rent review surveyors none the wiser. (Strictly, […]
Shop investment: direct or indirect?
(2025 Aug) – Shop investment: direct or indirect? Direct is owning the property, indirect is a shareholder. Which is better depends upon judicious choice. For direct ownership, cue is best taken from institutional investors. Pension funds have a longer time horizon. They do not pay 20 YP (5%) for 10 YP (10%) rack-rented investments. They […]
The River Island Saga
(2025 Aug) – The River Island saga is a stark reminder of the risk run when large landlords relax their investment policies that they apply to small businesses. Small businesses that are incorporated are normally expected to provide a personal guarantor when leasing premises, yet somehow the same strict approach is not required of multiple […]
Independent Expert – getting your money’s worth
(2025 Aug) – In my experience, RICS-appointed Independent Experts fall in one of two categories. (1) Conscientious – by which I mean the IE will measure the premises and calculate areas regardless of what the parties might’ve agreed, investigate, research and test evidence for accuracy with the person(s) involved and not merely rely on pro-forma […]
Open market rent
(2025 Jul) – Sometimes I tell landlord-clients that, despite the rent review to open market rent, it’s unlikely they’ll get it. Instead, they’ll get a rent pro rata that another unrelated landlord got for a different property. It’s a methodology that compares each rent review with what rent someone else has agreed, so that each […]
Outside LTA54 and upward/downward rent review
(2025 Jul) – Although Bill 2025 applies to rent reviews in leases outside the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, more leases granted outside LTA54 is suggested as a likely consequence of upward/downward rent review. The only times a lease can be granted outside LTA54 is on a new letting, or by agreement with an existing […]
Banning upward-only rent review: “…perhaps the boldest intervention in leasing practice in a generation.”
(2025 July) It’s rare for me to include an article on RRM written by someone else, but I think the following is excellent. So, by kind permission of the author, Tom Pope of Lightlease: “The government’s announcement this week to ban upward-only rent reviews (UORRs) in commercial leases across England and Wales is perhaps the […]
Up in arms!
(2025 Jul) – Inevitably, the powerful landlord lobby – institutional investors, pension funds, insurance companies, REITS, quoted and major property companies, their advisers, and likely thousands of anonymous private investors – are concerned about the proposal to ban upward only rent reviews and especially the lack of consultation. But, some 30 years ago, when the […]
Retail ambassadors
July 2025. I have just found out that a well-known firm of surveyors has re-hired someone whose reputation is awful. I doubt I am the only one who has been on the receiving end of his nastiness and, so I am told, not the only one who has expressed concern about the re-hiring. When a […]
Rack rent, open market rent, and fairs
Jul 2025 – For continuing professional development, Ii was reading about an Act of June 1657 “Annoyance by Buildings.; Fines for Houses built on new Foundations, within ten miles of the Walls of London, since the 25 of March, 1620” (for the preventing the multiplicity of Buildings in and about the Suburbs of London, and […]
Creepy?
Jul 2025 – Creepy? When you stop to think about it, the RICS is like an episode of Dr Who where an alien beast has a hold over humans that have to do its bidding. Over 150 years ago, a few surveyors got together to decide their standards were superior to everyone else at the […]
Customer Service
Jun 2025 – Complain… is not something I do very often. Mostly, there’s nothing much to complain about. Specialising in rent review enables considering holistically, not only from the client’s perspective. There are at least two sides to a story. So when I complain occasionally, I always include some suggestions for what can be done […]
Enjoying the heat wave?
Jun 2025 – I am, so much so that since the start of the year I’ve worn 4 layers of clothing on my upper body, including one thermal layer. Most people (including my wife) think I’m mad. Perhaps. A few years ago, we replaced all the original double glazing with triple glazing acoustic one-way glass […]
Independent Expert Determination on Rent Review
Jun 2025 – On referral, win most, lose a few; fair enough when the third party is someone who knows what he/she is talking about. But it irks when someone doesn’t. One such today. For no apparent reason, the RICS appointment of an IE was, according to the surveyor’s website, an arbitrator and mediator. As […]
Research reports
Jun 2025 – Hardly a week goes by when yet another report is published on some aspect of the market, trends, and so on. Sometimes a client will provide me with a report published by a trade organisation, or a survey of comments by local businesses, and such like, regarding the state of the market […]
Statutory Interpretation
Jun 2025 – In Darwall and another v Dartmoor National park authority 2025, a ruling by the Supreme Court about the public’s right to camp overnight on Dartmoor is interesting comment about statutory interpretation, following on from Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart 1992. The normal principles of statutory interpretation are to ascertain the meaning […]
Buy to Let
(2025 Jun) – Key Flats was the public name of the London and County Freehold and Leasehold Properties Company Ltd, a residential property landlord, incorporated in June 1909 whose assets then valued at circa £300,000 and which by 1945 had grown to £10,000,000. It was 1945 because I have a booklet from then titled “Where […]
Brent Cross Shopping Centre
(2025 Jun ) – News that Hammerson have bought Standard Life’s (Abrdn) 95% interest in the Brent Cross Shopping Centre in NW London and are now working on buying from another a further 3% interest so as to own 100%, led me to read about the Centre on Wikipedia. I know a lot of about […]
What’s the catch?
Jun 2025 – In July 2003, Allsop auction, Lot 34, Mr X bought a shop investment 52/54 High Street, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. An attractive prominent building let to Boots at £28,250 pa, he paid £610,000. The seller, Golfrate, had served notice for the March 2003 review proposing £43,000 pax. Something I advise landlords when buying at […]
Tenants v Landlords
May 2025 – A silent war is raging between tenants and landlords. This commercial purpose of a rent review, according to British Gas Corporation v Universities Superannuation Scheme (1987), and Equity & Law Life Assurance Society plc v Bodfield (1987), is to keep the rent in line with current property values having regard to the […]
Non-structural alterations
(2025 May) – For pre-contract enquiries, nowadays known as Commercial Property Standard Enquiries, “CPSE” for short, any temptation to answer most with ‘no’, or ‘not known’, or ‘not aware of’, is bound to be a waste of time. The person enquiring is sure to query anything that should be answered more fully. The information about […]
Non-Structural Alterations
May 2025 – For pre-contract enquiries, nowadays known as Commercial Property Standard Enquiries, “CPSE” for short, any temptation to answer most with ‘no’, or ‘not known’, or ‘not aware of’, is bound to be a waste of time. The person enquiring is sure to query anything that should be answered more fully. The information about the […]
Writing aid: mediocrity at its best
(2025 May) – I underestimate how long it takes me to write a report. Wanting to be a perfectionist and being thorough makes for a demanding experience. I can ease off perfection, but not at the expense of thoroughness. In the same way, retail is detail, so is rent review. I used to use Grammarly […]
Rent deposit: a worrying trend
(2025 May) Word of warning for tenants of new leases and on assignment and sublets. Given the choice between a rent deposit and a guarantor, many tenants prefer the former. However, currently, I am involved with two lease expiries where the landlords are withholding my clients’ rent deposits. In each case, the landlord’s reasoning is […]
Rent review: interest on back rent (shortfall)
(2025 May) – Calculating interest on back rent following a rent review, many years ago, the author of a letter published in the Estates Gazette wrote about the difference in results that different makes and models of calculators produce. I think it’s something to do with the (behind-the-scenes) number of decimal points and the rounding. […]
Unusual rent review
(2025 May: LinkedIn) In 1989, my client bought a property in South London prior to auction, let to a national retailer. The retailer closed the branch and offered a new intermediate lease for circa £1M which was bought by an investment company. That company sub-let the property to another national retailer. The rent reviews are […]
Agreed areas and precedent
(2025 May) – At rent review, it’s usual for the surveyor who acts for one of the parties to tell the surveyor acting for the other party that what had been agreed previously should be agreed again – even if the latter is a different person. Where the parties’ surveyors are the same as before, […]
Principles of good estate management
(2025 May) if you search on-line for the meaning of the “principles of good estate mangement”, then chances are you’ll find some saying it’s been lost in the mists of time. At least I did – before I delved. The origin of the phrase is, along with the principles of good husbandry, to be found […]
On lease renewal under LTA54, index-linked reviews are rebased to market rent for the initial rent.
(2025 May) – 1.0 Supermarket REIT plc buys supermarkets let on index-linked rents. Its debt interest rates enable it to pay dividends on the difference between rental income and operating costs (including borrowing). But how long for? 1.1 Supermarket REIT is not the only prop co that buys index-linked rented property. Almost all, if not […]
Potted history to provide a sense of place
(2025 May) – Currently, I’m acting as expert witness for a head lessee of a block of shops in a village near St Albans. It’s an unusual rent review involving a dispute with the freeholder about the amount of ground rent. Despite a previous review involving different parties, there is no documentation on how the […]
Arbitration Act 2025 time limit for appeal to start when the resultant rent was notified
(2025 May) – Under the Arbitration Act 2025, s70(3) the time limit for appeal pushes the date of the award to the back burner by also including “the applicable date” which is the date when the applicant or appellant was notified of the result of that process. Under the 1996 Act, the arbitrator can be […]
The Law Commission consultation on reform of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 Part II
(2025 May) – The Law Commission having allowed me to contribute two days after the official end of the first Consultation, I ran out of time to address the LC’s questions, so said the following (edited): …whenever instructed to act for a landlord or a tenant, I start by saying “it should be easy to […]
RICS-appointed Independent Experts over-stepping their authority.
(2025 May) – On referral of a rent review to an Independent Expert appointed by the RICS, I have had enough of (some) appointed chartered surveyors over-stepping their authority. An Independent Expert derives authority from the lease. Not the RICS. The RICS appoints the IE, that is all. After that, it is for the parties […]
Secondary trading positions and dominant occupiers
(2025 May) – Acting for the Landlord of a shop in London Road, Norbury, London SW16, let to a well-known corporate estate agent, the rent review was referred to an Independent Expert. Inevitably, the Tenant’s surveyor sought nil increase. I say ‘inevitably’ because multiple retailers and ilk tend to cite evidence involving other multiples and […]
A chartered surveyor should be able to read?
(2025 May: LinkedIn) – (1) Please correct me if this is wrong, but I think that a person with a professional qualification, MRICS or FRICS, should be able to read. The landlord’s surveyor (FRICS) had referred to the RICS for the appointment of an arbitrator. The appointed asked the landlord’s surveyor for a copy of […]
Director – legal status or pretentious title?
(2025 May) – A director (according to Practical Law) is “a person elected by the members of a company or otherwise appointed to superintend the management of the company’s affairs. Although company directors are not strictly speaking trustees, they are in a closely analogous position because of the fiduciary duties they typically owe to the […]
Law of Property Act 1925 – the first 100 years
(2025. May) – Interesting article by Collyer Bristow LLP – Rebecca Mitchell and Camilla Brown on the history of this Act, what it has achieved and suggestions for reform.
Banks, property and rental valuation methodology
(2025 May) – Any surveyor whose landlord clients own properties let to banks will know that the surveyors that act for banks at rent review reason that the market rent should be valued using zoning methodology as if a shop. The reason being that is the only way the banks’ surveyors can minimize their clients’ […]
How a limited company can be rid of a lease?
(2025 May) – How a limited company tenant can be rid of rent and lease liabilities. Where a tenant is a limited company, it does not (normally*) need the landlord’s consent to assign the tenancy. The only necessity is to sell the shares in the company. Where the company has assets its director(s) want(s) to […]
Selling online: how to lose a customer
(2025 May) – Revenge is sweet. I have a natural talent for relationship marketing. Relationship is about help: help is instinctive. Helping yourself, helping others. We form, develop, and maintain relationships to help in some way, and at some level of understanding. Help is unconditional, but in business it is conditional, help usually in exchange […]
Case Law and Rent Review
(2025 May) – From Sir John Ritblat’s remark that property investment is 50%, property, 50% finance. I decided that rent review is 50% valuation, 50% case law. As ‘the’ specialist (not ‘a’ specialist as an arbitrator in the North of England said in a reasoned award and whose putting me in my place still irks!), […]
Bad bargain
May 2025 – Currently, I am acting for the landlord of a property whose upward-only review is to the greater of the market rent and uncapped index-linked. The dispute procedure is an independent expert. My client is not the original landlord, he bought the property at auction, but the tenant is the original tenant. The […]
Director – legal status or pretentious title for an over-rated position?
Mar 2025 – A director (according to Practical Law) is “a person elected by the members of a company or otherwise appointed to superintend the management of the company’s affairs. Although company directors are not strictly speaking trustees, they are in a closely analogous position because of the fiduciary duties they typically owe to the […]