Upward-only rent reviews banned in win for on- and off-trade

By Hamish Graham

Published: 14 July, 2025

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill includes a ban on upward-only rent review clauses in commercial leases.

At present, commercial leases in England and Wales with this clause cannot decrease in rent, only stay the same or increase, even if market rents indicate they should be lower.

The policy changes have long been advocated by hospitality industry bodies including UK Hospitality, which has been seeking such a change since the early 2000s. The banning of this unpopular clause will be a relief for businesses in both the on- and off-trade in England and Wales.

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Chair of UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls, believes the policy change will be a relief for hospitality businesses that are already facing a number of financial headwinds.

She commented: “Unjust upward-only rent review clauses have been hitting hospitality businesses for years, making rents unnecessarily expensive. They have been punishing the high street and constraining investment, and it’s the right move for the Government to ban them completely.

“UK Hospitality has been calling for a ban for decades and I’m very pleased that it is now being implemented.

“This ban, alongside business rates reform and efforts to simplify licensing, are critical to cutting costs and red tape for businesses, and allow hospitality to drive high street regeneration.

“It’s also positive that the Bill doesn’t include any future tourist tax in England. The Government made clear to us that it has no plans to introduce a tax and it was critical they followed through on that promise. We expect that commitment to remain throughout the passage of this legislation.

“The Government should now take this pragmatic approach at the Budget and introduce measures to lower business rates, fix NICs and cut VAT for hospitality. Our businesses are being taxed out and we need to see action at the Budget that allows hospitality to create places where people want to live, work and invest.”

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