Client: Whitbread
Whitbread’s head office - totalling 66,000 sq ft - is based on Houghton Hall Business Park near Dunstable. Facing a forthcoming rent review, the landlord was proposing a significant 22% uplift in rental payments.
The solution
Whitbread appointed our landlord and tenant specialists to negotiate the proposed increase with the landlord. We began by undertaking a detailed analysis of market transaction evidence, which illustrated the limited rental growth that had characterised the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire office market in recent years.
Our knowledge of the property itself also proved a decisive factor during the negotiations. In particular, its configuration did not lend itself to sub-letting opportunities, placing a disadvantage onto the occupier.
The result
We secured a nominal uplift just above the fixed increase in the lease for Whitbread, representing a reduction of £565,000 over five years.
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