Enterprise licensee warning after rent rise confusion

An Enterprise Inns lessee is urging other publicans to check their annual rent increase after he discovered he was about to pay three times too much.

Ally Yeoman, licensee of the Bullers Arms, in Saltash, Cornwall, was sent a letter by Enterprise telling him his rent would rise by three per cent - £90.65 a month - on February 1.

The increase was based on the Retail Price Index (RPI) - the "latest available index obtained from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)", the letter said.

But Yeoman contacted the ONS and was told the latest RPI, for December, was 0.9 per cent.

"They had gone for the November figure and not the December figure," he said.

At the time of the letter - dated January 16 - the figure was correct. However a new figure for December was released on January 20.

Yeoman, who has run the pub for two years and been a licensee for 35 years, argued: "If the rise comes in on February 1, they have to base it on the December figure."

He spoke to Enterprise about the situation and the company agreed to base his rent on the December figure, meaning his rent was instead increased by £30.

Yeoman added: "My concern is how many licensees have looked at this increase and thought they've had enough? People should be told about this."

He was later contacted by his area manager who apologised for what had happened.

Other licensees appeared in the dark about the situation.

Huw Davies, lessee of the Enterprise-owned Riverside Inn, in Cheddar, Somerset, said he was not aware of it, but his increase was due in March. "I will definitely look into it though," he said.

Responding to this story Enterprise Inns chief operating officer Simon Townsend said in a statement: "On 20th January, the most recent government statistics confirming the rate of RPI for December were published.

"Due to the late publication of this data, a small number of licensees on a particular agreement whose rent was due to be adjusted by the RPI prevailing in December 2008 received a letter on 16th January containing incorrect information. The rate of RPI relevant to these licensees is 0.9% and all have been written to correcting this matter."

He added: "We always try to give licensees at least two weeks notice of the rent that will become payable as a consequence of an annual RPI adjustment.

"We did exactly that on this occasion, and then set out to correct matters as soon as the December figure was published a few days later."