Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what public consultation her Department has undertaken in relation to the proposed prohibition of upward-only rent reviews for commercial leases in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.

No formal public consultation was undertaken prior to the announcement of the policy. However, upwards only rent reviews are an issue of a longstanding concern that artificially inflated rents make it harder for businesses to access commercial property. The government conducted extensive research and expert engagement before deciding to proceed with the ban, which will encourage the market to operate more efficiently, ensuring rents respond to market conditions, and promote less adversarial relations between landlords and tenants.