business rent increase alot!

[rogerdodger]

hi,
i am wondering if our landlord is allowed to increase rent to whatever they like.

the last lease agreement expired a few months ago after being here for 11 years and the landlord has said that the rent will increase from £223 a month to £600 a month.
as i am not covered by a lease is there anything i can do to avoid such a large rise.
they are adamant that there is no middle ground on this at all.
if this increase happens i will be forced to sell up and move out!.
oh, we are in scotland if that makes any difference?

[Nightmare4banks]

Hi all!

Rogerdodger,In reply to your post:

You need to contact a chartered surveyor to put you in the right direction.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors RICS - Scotland Office details:

(Address,Phone Number & Web Address)

RICS
9 Manor Place
Edinburgh EH3 7DN

(0131) 225 7078


http://www.rics.org/scotland

Anyway,I hope this helps.

[my business rent]

hi rogerdodger,
NO,NO,NO....... don`t sign anything, rents cannot just be set to any level the landlord feels like.....ALTHOUGH THEY DO.
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOUR RENT SHOULD BE?
IF NOT, HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IS THE FAIR RENT IN THE 1ST PLACE?
the 1st thing you should do is get a rent evaluation....wether from us or someone else.
that will tell you wether or not you are underpaying at the moment or if the landlord is trying to take you for a ride.

[livelylad]

Please do not post links to commercial sites, these will be removed.

[Esio Trot]

Originally Posted by rogerdodger

hi,
i am wondering if our landlord is allowed to increase rent to whatever they like.

the last lease agreement expired a few months ago after being here for 11 years and the landlord has said that the rent will increase from £223 a month to £600 a month.
as i am not covered by a lease is there anything i can do to avoid such a large rise.
they are adamant that there is no middle ground on this at all.
if this increase happens i will be forced to sell up and move out!.
oh, we are in scotland if that makes any difference?

Unlike residential tenancies, commercial tenancies are heavily skewed in favour of the landlord.

My recommendation to all who read this and are considering a lease to be very wary. Most landlords require the lease to be personal, not in the name of a company (unless you provide a personal guarantee). The reason is that if you take a lease for, say, 15 years and you move after 3 you could still end up paying rent for the remaining 12 years. The landlord is under no obligation to re-let the property; if you instruct an agent to re-let it, the landlord can be very choosy over who takes over the lease (particularly if you have assets and any prospective tenant has less).