Guidance for commercial tenants
Payment of rent
When do I pay my rent?
The terms of your lease will determine the frequency and when your rent is payable. The Council’s standard payment dates are 1st April, 1st July, 1st October and 1st January. Rent is payable in advance and is due on the payment date(s) stated in your lease. Rent is payable whether or not an invoice is received. Should you fail to receive an invoice or have a query regarding an invoice please contact Land and Property Services. See Contact details .
VAT
The Council does not at this time charge VAT in respect of the rent payable. In the event of the circumstances changing you will be notified.
Will my rent increase?
The terms of your lease will determine if and when your rent will increase. A rent increase occurs in the following circumstances:
- Automatically if the terms of your lease state a change in the rent payable during the period of the lease; or
- On receipt of a notice should your lease include a term that enables the rent to be reviewed during the period of your lease; or
- If the rent is fixed during the period of the lease it cannot be changed.
The rent cannot be reviewed until the end of the term as part of the renegotiation of the lease terms.
I cannot afford to pay my rent. What do I do?
If you have difficulty paying your rent you should contact the Council immediately.
The contact details are: Chief Finance Officer, Income Services, Princess Buildings, Halifax. HX1 1TP. Telephone 01422 393981.
Your lease represents a legally binding contract and if you fail to pay your rent it is a serious breach of contract. For this reason, as a last resort, the Council do employ a bailiff debt collection service. If this service has to be used you will be responsible for the additional costs involved in collection of rent arrears.
In some circumstances (such as arrears of rent or a breach of other terms of the lease) the Council will take action to take the lease back so that it comes to an end. You will have the right to apply to the County Court to obtain what is known as ‘relief’. If the Court does not agree with you though, it will make an Order giving the Council possession of the premises and also if appropriate an Order for the repayment of all rent arrears and costs incurred.
If you have tried all other options, you can ask us about surrendering your lease. We will assess your financial circumstances (we will need to see your accounts) and the efforts you have made to ease the situation (for example, trying to assign the lease). However, we do not have to let you surrender the lease. We will consider each case individually. If we agree to the surrender, you may have to pay a fee for ending the lease early or continue to have responsibility for the premises until a new tenant is found.
Please do not assume that you can surrender your lease by simply returning the keys or abandoning the property. Your lease is a legally binding contract and will continue regardless of these actions.
