Rent Review

What is a rent review?

A rent review is the mechanism in a commercial lease that lets the rent be reset at regular intervals — typically every three to five years — so the agreement stays in line with the market. Reviews can also be triggered by events such as lease renewal, or a tenant may seek a rent reduction where circumstances justify it. Handled well, a review is an evidence exercise; handled badly, it locks the wrong rent in place for years.

How is the new rent assessed?

Most reviews are to open market rent: the rent the premises would achieve if let today on the hypothetical terms the review clause prescribes. That hypothesis matters as much as the market. The clause sets out assumptions (for example, that the premises are fit for occupation and the lease terms are as stated) and disregards — most importantly, the tenant's own improvements, the tenant's occupation and any goodwill attached to the business. An RICS Registered Valuer reviews the lease terms, gathers comparable lettings evidence, and values the premises on that precise hypothetical basis — which is why two careful valuers can still land apart, and why the drafting of the clause is read before any figure is discussed.

Upward-only rent reviews

Many institutional leases contain upward-only review clauses: at review, the rent moves to the higher of the passing rent and the open market rent — it never falls. For a landlord that protects the income stream; for a tenant it means a soft market brings no relief, and the real negotiation is about resisting an unjustified increase. Knowing whether the evidence supports “no uplift” is exactly the kind of judgement a rent review surveyor is instructed for.

What if landlord and tenant cannot agree?

The lease usually provides the answer: an independent third party — either an independent expert or an arbitrator, commonly appointed through the RICS Dispute Resolution Service — determines the rent on the parties' evidence and submissions. The distinction matters: an expert reaches their own opinion; an arbitrator decides between the cases put. Either way, the quality of the written valuation evidence decides the outcome, and where a dispute escalates into wider proceedings the panel's valuation expert witnesses provide the formal expert evidence.

Rent reviews and lease renewal

Rent review clauses often interact with lease renewal rights under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, so early advice matters. At renewal, the new rent is assessed under the Act rather than the old review clause, interim rent can apply while terms are agreed, and the negotiating positions on both sides change. A surveyor who sees the review and the renewal as one timeline — rather than two isolated events — protects your position through both.

Who the panel acts for

An RICS Registered Valuer on the panel acts for either side — the landlord seeking a fair uplift or the tenant resisting one — reviewing the lease, assembling the comparable evidence, negotiating the revised rent and preparing submissions if the matter goes to an expert or arbitrator. The work sits alongside the panel's commercial property valuations and commercial building surveys, and where repair liabilities are also in play, dilapidations advice can be handled by the same team.

Fees and timescales

Rent review instructions are quoted individually and fixed before you commit — the fee reflects the premises, the lease and how contested the review is likely to be. Straightforward negotiations typically conclude within weeks; referrals to an expert or arbitrator follow the appointed party's timetable. Reviews are usually backdated to the review date, so delay rarely makes the problem cheaper — if a review notice has landed on your desk, tell us about the lease and get a fixed quote →