Tenants at Western International are appealing an “unnerving” rent increase to £14.63 per square foot following a decision by Hounslow Council asset managers.
After a rent review was postponed, the rent increase will be backdated to July 2013 with some firms facing lump sum payments of almost £50,000, according to Andrew Owen, chair of the market’s tenants’ association. Owen said tenants have lodged an appeal, which he said should result in a hearing before a judge.
“We’re all faced with enormous bills. Some can and some can’t pay, which is very unsettling and unnerving,” he said. “We offered a three per cent increase, after we compared rent prices for similar units in our area, and we’re paying just under that [average price] now. The rent review was set for three years ago, but they delayed it as the market wasn’t doing well.“
A statement from Hounslow Council said that the tenants’ have proposed a rent of £6.19 per square foot, which it said represented a reduction of almost 30 per cent. Councillor Steve Curran said the rents have been reviewed according to the current value of the market units.
“Rents have been independently agreed through an arbitrator and those rents support other critically important community services,” he said.
“The claim that the recent arbitrator’s award will ‘put 40-50 per cent of occupiers out of business’ is not one we recognise.”
Owen added: “A single unit will have a £20,000 lump sum payment – personally I will have to pay £48,000. Traders who can’t pay will have to close. Ultimately it could spell the end of the market.”
