Rental Reviews and Terminating Rental Agreements

The amount of rent you pay will be agreed with the landlord at the beginning of the agreement. Payment is normally in advance and due on a quarterly basis. If you fail to pay, the landlord will normally take action to recover the debt and may terminate your agreement.

Rent reviews are often built into the agreement and give you the opportunity to challenge the rent. Reviews are commonly scheduled every three or five years.

Fixed rental increases may be built into the agreement which gives you certainty by stating how much the rent will increase by at the outset.

Alternatively there are index-linked rents, where the rent changes in line with a measurement from a third-party, normally the Retail Price Index. Upward only rent review clauses are common but mean the rent will never fall, even when rents in the same area drop. Instead, it will rise in line with the RPI, but not demonstrate a corresponding drop.

Setting up break clauses at intervals throughout the agreement allow you to assess whether you want to continue renting, without having to wait until the end of the agreement term.

Assignment or subletting are common ways of vacating a rental property early. By assigning the rental agreement to a third party you can quit all responsibility for the agreement. Alternatively, subletting requires you stay as a tenant but grant a sublease to a third party. When subletting you remain liable for the rent even if you do not trade from the premises. Accessibility to either of these options will be controlled by the original agreement and you are likely to need the landlord's consent.

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