Office floors and buildings
Office rent review and lease renewal surveyors for landlords and tenants
For landlords and tenants of office floors and buildings, we gather the relevant evidence, inspect the premises, analyse your lease and use our negotiating skills on your behalf to ensure the best outcome for you. It starts with our free, no-obligation lease analysis.
An office's rent at review is normally valued as at the review date in the lease, from the rents agreed for comparable offices, compared per square foot. From our own offices in W1 and NW7, we have an in-depth understanding of rental values in London and across the UK. We act for landlords and tenants, and we'll analyse your lease free of charge.
For landlords
Can your office achieve a higher rent?
When a rent review or lease renewal occurs, we gather the evidence and negotiate the best rent your property should be achieving.
- Add to the building's value. An extra £20,000 a year in rent may add £400,000 to the capital value of a property, and considerably more on larger buildings.
- Start on time. The rent is usually valued as at the review date, so waiting for the market to rise won't help, and ignoring a review can strain relations with your tenant.
- A way forward if the market is flat. Where the market dictates a nil increase, we can propose creative, amicable solutions that work financially for both landlord and tenant.
LandlordOffice · Central LondonThe rent rose from £65,000 to £110,000 a year: £45,000 a year more.
For tenants
Facing a large rent increase on your office?
If your landlord has proposed a revised rent at review or renewal, we will negotiate to ensure the lowest and fairest rent possible.
- Challenge an increase. If there is no evidence for your landlord's figure, we negotiate so that an excessive demand is reduced and a fair open market rental value agreed.
- Lower the rent at renewal. At a lease renewal it is common practice for rents to reduce, and we often negotiate a new rent below the old one.
- Know your right to renew. If your lease is protected by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, you have a legal right to renew it, which strengthens your negotiating position.
21 days
Some leases give a tenant as little as 21 days to object to a proposed rent. If that deadline is missed, the landlord's proposed rent becomes final.
Read: Time can be of the essenceHow we help with a rent review or lease renewal
We analyse your lease free of charge, negotiate on the evidence, and settle by agreement or, if it comes to it, arbitration.
Free lease analysis
We'll analyse your lease without charge and in confidence, and explain our fee options: fixed, performance-based, or both.
We negotiate on the evidence
We build your case from comparable rents, drawing on our own property database, and negotiate with the other side or their representative.
Agreement or arbitration
Most cases are settled by negotiation. If not, your lease may provide for arbitration or expert determination, and we'll put your case.
What really stood out was their calm, proactive approach to negotiation and how smoothly they managed the entire negotiation process from start to finish.
Talk to us early. Some leases set strict time limits for rent review notices, and missing one can be costly. Read: Time can be of the essence
Book a free lease analysisOffice rent reviews: your questions answered
When is an office rent valued at a rent review?
As at the rent review date set out in the lease, not the date the review is triggered or agreed. Commercial leases usually allow for a rent review every four or five years, and the market can change a great deal between one review date and the next, so check the lease's review provisions before starting a negotiation.
Can an office rent review start after the review date?
Usually, yes. Time is usually not “of the essence” in a rent review, so a landlord can serve a rent review notice after the review date. The office is still valued as at that date, and the new rent is backdated to it, which can leave a tenant with a large, unbudgeted bill for back rent. Some leases do set strict deadlines, so check yours first.
What happens to an office rent when the lease ends?
It is renegotiated as part of renewing the lease. If the lease is protected by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and landlord and tenant can't agree, the court sets the new rent at what the property “might reasonably be expected to be let in the open market by a willing lessor” (section 34 of the Act). A renewal is started by a Section 25 or Section 26 notice, and legal advice is needed to serve one.
Before you negotiate: our 11-point rent review checklist
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Who will handle your rent review?
Our partners, Richard L Daniels and Charles Daniels, and our dedicated rent review team, who give personal attention at all times.
Richard L DanielsFounding partnerFounded the firm in 1966; five decades in commercial and industrial property.rld@richardlionel.co.uk
Charles DanielsPartnerFifteen years representing landlords and tenants on offices, industrial and retail space.cd@richardlionel.co.uk
Other commercial property we cover
Rent reviews and lease renewals on retail, office and industrial premises, and on medical, dental and veterinary practices, from 500 to 250,000 sq ft, for landlords and tenants across the UK.
Book your free lease analysis
Fill in the form and one of our rent review specialists will contact you for a no obligation conversation, in the strictest of confidence.
Or call now
020 7487 4451- Mobile07795 298 748
- Emailcd@richardlionel.co.uk
Articles
All articles
Date Matters!
Why the review date in the lease, not the day you negotiate, decides the value, and what lockdown showed about it.Read the article
Open Market Rental What?
The phrase in most commercial leases that decides how a rent review or lease renewal turns out, and the evidence that proves it.Read the article
Rent Reviews: Best Practice
Four steps that give Landlords and Tenants the best outcome at a rent review, and what the ban on upwards-only rent reviews means.Read the article