Settling the rent for a Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ("1954
Act") protected lease is almost always the most difficult part
of any renewal. Section 34 of the 1954 Act provides a court with
the power to determine the rent to be paid under a renewal lease in
the absence of agreement between the parties. Two recent cases
highlight the crucial importance of providing relevant comparable
evidence to the court or risk suffering the financial
consequences.
In the case of Britel Fund Trustees Limited v B & Q Plc
(2016) (unreported) HHJ Mitchel was asked to determine the rent
payable for the renewal of a retail warehouse lease. The renewal
lease terms had mainly been agreed (save for rent) and included a
mutual rolling break option. The rent being paid by the tenant,
B&Q, at the end of the old lease was £776,139 per annum
or £20 per sq ft. The landlord proposed an annual rent for
the new lease of £696,500 per annum (equivalent to
£18.90psf) and B&Q argued it should be £281,000
