The Scottish Pubs Code Regulations 2024

Assessing the market rent of an MRO lease

17.—(1) If at the end of the negotiation period the pub-owning business and the tied-pub tenant have not reached agreement on the rent to be paid under the MRO lease, a rent assessor is to be appointed to determine the market rent which will apply to the MRO lease.

(2) The rent assessor is to be appointed by the pub-owning business with the consent of the tied-pub tenant within a period of 3 weeks beginning on the day after the negotiation period ends.

(3) In the event of a failure to agree an appointment under paragraph (2), the failure must be referred to the adjudicator within a period of 2 weeks beginning with the date on which the 3 week period referred to in paragraph (2) ends.

(4) A referral to the adjudicator under paragraph (3) can be made by either the pub-owning business or the tied-pub tenant.

(5) The adjudicator is to appoint a rent assessor within a period of 3 weeks beginning with the day on which the adjudicator is notified of that failure by either the pub-owning business or the tied-pub tenant.

(6) In the event that the adjudicator is not notified of a failure to agree a joint appointment as referred to in paragraph (3) by either the pub-owning business or the tied-pub tenant the MRO process comes to an end.

(7) The rent assessor’s terms of appointment must require the rent assessor to determine the market rent for the MRO lease and notify the pub-owning business and tied-pub tenant of that determination, within a period of 4 weeks beginning with the date of the rent assessor’s appointment.

(8) The pub-owning business must make the tied-pub tenant an offer in writing of an MRO lease within a period of 4 weeks beginning on the day on which the rent assessor notifies the parties in writing of the market rent under paragraph (7).

(9) In accordance with paragraph (8), the pub-owning business must specify that the rent payable is the market rent determined by the rent assessor payable from the date on which the tenant requested an MRO lease under regulation 16(1).

(10) If the offer of an MRO lease has not been accepted by the tied-pub tenant within 2 weeks beginning with the day the tenant received the market rent determination the rent assessment period comes to an end.

(11) The rent assessor’s fees are to be split equally between the pub-owning business and the tied-pub tenant.

(12) The rent assessor must be a member or fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors(1).

(13) The adjudicator may set additional criteria that a person must meet in order to be appointed as a rent assessor.

(1)

Commonly referred to as the RICS, a UK-based professional body for surveyors founded on 15 June 1868 and incorporated by Royal Charter on 26 August 1881.