The rent review clause is one of the single most important clauses within your lease as it determines the level of rent that you pay. It is therefore key that you appoint a RICS qualified Surveyor at least 12 months prior to the review date. If you are unsure of the dates and notices within your lease then we will be pleased to carry out an appraisal free of charge.

Any notices served upon you by your Landlord should be passed to our Surveyor as a matter of urgency to ensure that it complies with the requirements set out in the lease and what counter notices, if any, need to be served and in what form. Failure to do so can result in you paying whatever level of rent your Landlord proposes, therefore affecting your pocket.

RVA's job is to ensure any increases are kept to the minimum, provable by reference to open market values and the terms and conditions of the lease. This requires not only knowledge of the market but a deep understanding of Statute and Case Law.

If agreement cannot be reached by negotiation, the lease will provide for the appointment of an Independant Expert or Arbitrator who will consider the respective cases of the Landlord's and tenant's Surveyors before setting the new rent. Our Surveyors have extensive experience in representing clients during this process and have an excellent success rate.

At lease renewal the Landlords and tenants rights and obligations and are set out in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (as amended). Unless the Security of Tenure provisions of the Act have been excluded at the commencement the lease, a new lease can be negotiated on similar terms but at the then open market value which means that the rent can go down.

At lease renewal we can renegotiate the terms of your lease by removing any onerous terms, any strict user clauses and make positive alterations to many other clauses. We can also negotiate any rent free periods at the commencement of your lease therefore minimising any initial costs.

There are a number of grounds on which the Landlord can prevent a new lease being granted but these are rare and can be challenged.

The new rent, if it cannot be agreed between the parties, will be set by the County Court based on the evidence provided by us.

Whilst it is always in the tenants best interests to ensure any increases in rent are kept to a minimum it is particularly crucial in 2008 as rents set this year will have a significant impact on the Rateable Values for the 2010 Rating List.