The headline rent is no longer the negotiation. For most commercial occupiers in the South West coming to a 2026 lease renewal, the rent itself will land within five per cent of where the surveyor expects it to land. What changes outcomes now is everything else.

This is, in our view, a healthier place for the market to be. The unhealthy market is the one where the rent is the only variable; that is the market that produces the worst lease drafting, the most fragile tenants, and the most expensive end-of-term disputes. The terms-led market rewards both sides for thinking longer than five years.

Three observations from the practice's recent file

Across the eighteen lease renewals the office has handled in the last twelve months, three patterns are now clear.

First, landlords are pushing harder on rent review mechanism. Open-market reviews are giving ground to RPI-linked reviews — usually with a collar at 1% and a cap at 4%. RPI-linked reviews look attractive to occupiers in a low-inflation moment; they bind the occupier to indexation in a higher-inflation one. The number to negotiate is the cap, not the mechanism.

Second, lease lengths are creeping back up. Five-year terms with three-year breaks have softened into seven- and ten-year terms with fifth-year breaks. The break clause needs to be unconditional, not contingent on payment of rent or compliance with covenants — the conditional break is the trap that catches occupiers two years before they planned to leave.

Third, assignment provisions are being narrowed. The clauses that limit who a lease can be assigned to — by reference to covenant strength, business type, or landlord consent not to be unreasonably withheld — are being tightened in landlords' drafts. For an occupier whose business may sell, restructure, or evolve over the next decade, the assignment provisions are now as important as the rent.

The counter-strategy

The occupier who wins on terms is the occupier who comes prepared. The strategy that works has four parts:

  • Prepare the comparables before the conversation. The landlord's surveyor will arrive with their best evidence. Arrive with yours.
  • Propose the terms first. The party that drafts the heads of terms shapes the negotiation. Do not wait for the landlord's draft to react against.
  • Negotiate the package, not the line items. A small concession on rent in exchange for a clean break clause and a wider assignment provision is often the right trade. The line-by-line approach loses sight of the whole.
  • Walk away once. The occupier that has demonstrably considered other premises — even briefly — is the occupier that secures the better lease.
A lease is read for ten or fifteen years. The relationship that comes from the negotiation outlives any rent figure on the first page.

Why a quieter approach wins

The negotiated lease is not the litigated lease. Most commercial leases are signed, filed, and never opened again — the property runs smoothly, the rent is paid, both sides forget the terms. Where leases are reopened, it is almost always because something has gone wrong, and the terms become the document everyone reaches for.

The lease that anticipates difficulty — clearly drafted, fair on both sides, with workable mechanisms for change — is the lease that handles difficulty when it arrives. The lease that wins every line for the landlord at signing is the lease that the tenant's solicitor reads aloud, six years later, in a tone of voice the landlord did not expect.

For occupiers approaching a 2026 renewal in the region, the practical advice is straightforward: instruct a partner-led surveyor, propose the heads of terms, negotiate the whole package, and aim for a lease both sides could live with for a decade. The headline rent will fall where it falls.

The practice acts for both landlords and tenants — though never on the same matter — on lease renewals, regears and rent reviews across the South West. A conversation is always available.