All shop lettings fall within the security of tenure provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and rents are calculated in accordance with codes of practice used by members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the terms set out in the lease agreed by the parties.

Should a property become vacant and revert to the council (this rarely occurs as tenants normally assign their interest for a premium to another occupier), the property is advertised for letting in the market and is let to the trader who is willing to pay the best rent). The council has a fiduciary duty to its ratepayers to maximise the benefits it obtains from its assets.

All leases contain provisions as to how the new rental level is determined when rents are due for review. Generally both parties are obliged to have regard both to the terms of the lease (e.g. who is responsible for repairs insurance etc.) and rents prevailing in the local area. Should the parties be unable to agree the new rent, all council leases provide for either party to refer the matter to a third party for determination. When a tenancy expires the new rent in the case of a dispute is set by the county court.

The lease terms do not allow the council to set rents without consulting individual tenants, these are determined following negotiation either directly with the tenant or their appointed surveyor/solicitor.

With regard to the cleaners and restaurant which have closed, I have no knowledge of the latter as the property was not in the council's ownership. The cleaner's shop was let to an organisation that owned a chain of outlets.
My understanding is that they closed a number of shops including the premises in Blythe Road. To my knowledge the rent paid to the council had no bearing on this decision.

For the reasons outlined above I do not accept your premise that the council is setting rents above those prevailing in the local area. It would be counterproductive to do so and result in vacant premises and loss of income to the authority."






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The feature published on 09 March:


Small businesses in Blythe Road are under risk of closure because of the proposed rent increase by Hammersmith & Fulham Council. Business owners say that the increases are between 30% and 50%.

The local butcher is likely to shut down in June, a hairdresser salon cannot afford the rent rise and a restaurant and a cleaner agency already closed their doors.

The increase is not affecting only Council tenants. Private landlords are also taking advantage of the sudden valuation of the area for putting up their rents. Judy Standard, from Boomerang shop of second hand clothes and children articles, is paying £6,500 a year, but she says that her landlord is now asking £13,000 a year.

She says: "I am one of a number of small businesses who will have to close as this
policy is setting precedent for all the rents in the area. The village as it
is known used to be a thriving little community, but is now becoming a place
of estate and rental agencies. I am a single mother whose only source of
income is being threatened."

Sid Kassabian, owner of the Olympia Butchers, claims that the closures have negative effects for the local community. Most the small businesses in Blythe Road have an active role in the community life. Olympia Butchers, for example, donates meat to local schools and church every year. Last Christmas, he provided free meat for a party of 400 people.

The Brook Green Association has prepared a petition against the rent increase that says: "Hammersmith and Fulham Council's proposed rent increase threaten Olympia Butchers with closure. We deplore this possibility and we urge the Council to do all it can to preserve our local shopping". So far the petition has 500 local residents signatures.

Kassabian were paying £8,500 a year in 2001. Now, the Council is increasing his rent to £13,500. This is a 58% increase in two years. A similar increase is been set to the local hairdresser next door to the butcher. Mr Kassabian also claims that just some yards away, in Olympia, the Council's rents are of only £7,500.

Local businesses call it a "policy of charging exorbitant rents" and they also complain because they were not called for negotiations as it used to be done in the past.

Kassabian says: "I was always called to negotiate the rent review, but this time I have just being notified".

Judy Standard says: "I have spoken to the Mayor of Hammersmith Cllr Ghassan Kariam at a meeting of the Hammersmith Chamber Of commerce one month ago, He promised an audience and to take up our case with the director of the council, but has been unavailable since."

HammersmithToday.co.uk has contacted the Council and their answer will be online as soon as the reply is received.