Rights and responsibilities of veterinary landlords. Part 1: lease components and rent reviews

The surge in corporate ownership of veterinary businesses over the past decade has brought about a new phenomenon in the veterinary world – the accidental landlord. The traditional system of practice ownership meant that many vets invested in their practice property often in place of a more conventional pension fund. After many years of hard work at the coalface of veterinary practice, they hoped to rely on rental income to provide for them in retirement. In other cases, a bereaved spouse or offspring may suddenly find themselves trying to negotiate with a large corporate at a rent review or lease renewal. This article covers just two aspects of being a commercial landlord – what to look for in a lease and rent reviews. There are many other areas a landlord needs to be familiar with, such as insurance, lease renewal, interest rates, dilapidations, repossession and selling your rental property with a sitting tenant. Some of these considerations will be covered in a later article.