local business rents and dismal high street
Extracts from the minutes of meeting of the Isleworth and Brentford Area Committee (Planning) held on Thursday, 22 January 2009“On the matter of rent setting Mike Jordan confirmed that officers did acknowledge the need to reflect a range of uses. However, where the Authority instructed valuers to obtain the market value without restrictions on the use of the premises, they would do so. Councillor Hardy suggested that rent reviews were an important recurring issue for this area, noting the high turnover of tenants in Brentford High Street.”Amidst the painful use of phrases like ‘holistic’ and ‘robust context’ (do people really speak this way?) – there was no real mention of the huge rent rises some of the traders on the high street have had imposed on them. I know one who had his rent almost doubled at the end of last year.It is clear that there are not enough good shops in Brentford. There are more bookies than grocers. But the councillors feel its enough to spout platitudes and hand over responsibilities to valuers. How can the council claim to have the interests of the community as a key aim and then price local businesses out of the high street?I think we might benefit from being less ‘holistic’ and getting more practical and realistic. We will never have any local businesses and local community if we price all but the bookies out of the market. Rather than "market value" (which I’m guessing is set for west London, not Brentford itself) why not offer discounts and incentives? What are we scared of here - someone actually making a profit in Brentford?
Alan Clark ● 6302d7 Comments