Tenant Farming Rent Review Survey: final report

3. Rent Reviews

3.1. Summary of key points

• Less than half of respondents said their rent was reviewed on their main lease every 3 to 5 years (46%), 9% said it was every 6 to 10 years, 31% said there was no set timescales and 11% said their rent has never been reviewed.
• Just under 6 in 10 respondents (59%) said their most recent or current review was in the last 1-5 years.
• The vast majority of respondents said the rent review process was normally initiated from the landlord side (including agents) (95%).
• Over 8 in 10 respondents (82%) represent themselves as a tenant in the rent review and just under half (45%) said the landlord's agent normally represents the landlord in the rent review.
• 3 in 4 respondents (75%) saw no change in their relationship with their landlord during the rent review process. On the other hand, 6% saw an improvement and 12% said the relationship was worse during this time.

3.2. Frequency and Dates of Rent Review

Over 4 in 10 tenant farmers (42%) said there was no set timescale for the review or that it had never been reviewed. Another 4 in 10 respondents (46%) said their rent was reviewed on their main lease every 3 to 5 years and 9% said this was done every 6 to 10 years.

Unweighted base: n=1,011

The majority of respondents who were able to comment said their most recent or current review was in the last 1-5 years (59%). 27% said it was between 5 and 10 years and 14% said it was more than 10 years ago. In terms of the review prior to that, 17% said it was in the last 1-5 years, 43% said it was between 5 and 10 years ago and 40% said it was more than 10 years ago.

Unweighted base: Most recent or current review, n=690; Review prior to that, n=503

3.3. Initiation of Rent Review Process

The vast majority of respondents (95%) said the rent review process was normally initiated from the landlord's side (including agents) and the remaining 5% said it was from the tenant farmer's side (including agents).

3.4. Representation in the Rent Review

Over 8 in 10 respondents represent themselves as a tenant farmer in the rent review (82%).

Unweighted base: n=990

Just under half of survey respondents said the landlord's agent normally represents the landlord in the rent review (45%), 35% said it was usually the resident factor and 25% said the landlord represents themselves directly.

Unweighted base: n=894

3.5. Relationship with Landlord During Rent Review Process

3 in 4 respondents (75%) saw no change in the relationship with their landlord during the rent review process. On the other hand, 6% said they had seen an improvement to their relationship and 12% said the relationship was worse during this time. The remaining 7% of respondents said no rent review had taken place during the tenancy.

Figure 3.5 Relationship with the landlord during rent review process

Unweighted base: n=885