Study to look at lease code
A major study is to be carried out to assess the take-up and impact of a new code of practice covering lease agreements.
The updated Code for Leasing Business Premises was launched in March, in part to help tenants and lessees avoid the pitfalls of the property leasing process.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said it would help publicans "know where they stand".
A review by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) is now set to test its effectiveness.
The survey will ask retailers, landlords, property agents and lawyers about their use of the code. The pub industry will come under scrutiny, as it has previously shunned the code.
The BRC will use the results of the survey to gauge the code's effectiveness and the need to promote its wider use. The retailers' organisation plans to produce regular reports on the progress of the code, with the first due to be published this autumn.
The BRC's head of property Paul Browne said: "This is not about bullying or shaming landlords into compliance, it is about getting a better feel for how broadly the lease code has been adopted.
"Everyone in the property industry has worked extremely hard to develop this code, which reflects the needs of both tenants and landlords.
"The job is not finished, though. We must make sure it is working on the ground."
"The code has received strong support from the major landlords but we need smaller landlords, as well as property agents and solicitors, to use it too."
The BII launched a similar scheme in April, aimed at giving licensees a better understanding of pubco lease agreements.
Four pubcos - Enterprise, Punch, Marston's and Fuller's - were the pilot companies for the scheme, which is being administered by a separate not-for-profit company, known as BII Benchmarking and Accreditation Services (BIIBAS).
