Shop leases have traditionally been for 25 years or more but following the recession of the early 1990s, this has tended to be cut to shorter periodssuch as 12 or 15 years.You might even be lucky and agree one for six years. The period of your lease will probably be split into three or five year periods, depending on the length of the lease. At the end of each of these periods you will be subjected to a rent review. Most leases specify an upward-only rent review, meaning that even if other rents in the area have fallen, yours will rise, or at best remain the same. If your landlord is pushing for a rent rise above inflation, it is worth employing the service of a commercial property surveyor, who will charge in the region of 10% of the finally agreed rent.
At the end of my first leases, the landlord tried to push the rents up from £7,750 and £9,750 to £9,500 and £14,000 respectively. Having failed to negotiate a more reasonable figure myself, I employed a commercial property surveyor to negotiate on my behalf. The process took over 18 months, cost me £1,750, involved both shops being re-measured (one was found to be smaller than it had previously been!) and resulted in new rents being agreed at £8,000 and £10,250. These figures were less than the £8,500 and £10,500 I had originally offered to pay!
