The Scottish Pubs Code Regulations 2024

Rent review

13.—(1) Where the existing lease of a tied pub does not include a rent review process a pub-owning business must, at the written request of a tied-pub tenant, review the rent payable in respect of the lease where—

(a) the contractual period of the lease is 12 months or more,

(b) a rent review under this regulation has not been requested within the period of five years ending on the date of the current request, and

(c) a rent assessment has not been carried out within the period of five years ending on the date of the current request.

(2) A pub-owning business need not review the rent payable where the tied-pub tenant has separately requested an MRO lease and that request is in either a negotiation period or a rent assessment period, as mentioned in regulations 15 to 18.

(3) When reviewing the rent payable in response to a request under this regulation, a pub-owning business must—

(a) provide a rent assessment statement meeting the requirements set out in regulation 12(2) to (5) within a period of 6 weeks beginning on the date of the tenant’s request, and

(b) assess the rent as the rent likely to be paid on the open market by a willing tenant to a willing landlord—

(i) for a lease in the same terms as the existing lease, other than the rent payable, and

(ii) on the basis of reasonable assumptions and disregards of the sort likely to be negotiated on the open market between a willing tenant and a willing landlord.

(4) The period of 6 weeks mentioned in paragraph (3)(a) may be extended by a further 4 weeks with the agreement of both parties.

(5) Where the rent set out in the rent assessment statement differs from the rent payable on the date on which the tenant made a request under this regulation, the rent may change only by mutual agreement of the pub-owning business and the tied-pub tenant.

(6) A rent review process under this regulation comes to an end—

(a) when the parties have mutually agreed in writing a new rent, or

(b) after a period of 6 months beginning with the date on which the tenant received the rent assessment statement,

whichever is earlier.

(7) When a new rent is mutually agreed it applies from the day after the date on which it is agreed in writing.