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Protestors gathered outside Hillingdon Council's offices on Thursday night calling on the authority to reverse devastating rent increases imposed on local businesses.
In August, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed that the council is increasing shops’ rent by more than 100 per cent - leading to some fearing closures. This had been backdated several years due to council delays meaning rents were not increased when they should have been - however on Thursday night the council’s position on this changed.
Dozens of residents protested outside the Civic Centre before attending the meeting. This culminated in residents walking out of the meeting shouting “shame on you” at councillors after feeling disappointed by their answers in the chamber.
One of the shops threatened with closure is a one-year-old cafe called Nessie and Normans. Louise McGinty runs the cafe, and told the LDRS people attending wanted to have their voices heard. She added: “We want them to listen to us, we’ve come out tonight, the shops are important and they need to be saved - Hillingdon Council listen, please.”
Among the protestors gathered outside was a former Labour councillor for Heathrow Villages, Lou Griffin, who lives near Mulberry Parade, one of the affected areas. He told the LDRS: “These shops are incredibly important for us and vital for many people, particularly those elderly people and those with disabilities who can’t travel very far very easily to get what they need.
“For example, the chemist in those shops - all my medication comes through that shop. It’s literally 200 yards up the road from where I live.
“We can order medication from our doctor and it's delivered there - sometimes the same afternoon - and then we've only got to go up road to get it…if these shops have to close because those people working can’t afford those horrific rent increases then we will have to travel two to three miles up the road to get our medication.”
Diane Faichney, a local resident, told the LDRS that the increase of rent is not what people are angry about, rather the scale of the increase and the initial backdating of that increase. She said: “I’m not saying that the rent shouldn’t go up because everybody’s rent has gone up.
“But actually, to ask for so much in one go is really unfair and it's unjust. It's very unjust to do that.”
A huge concern for shop owners is the backdating of rent to the end of their previous contract at the new market rate - which until Thursday night had been the council’s position. However, responding to five questions raised at the meeting, Cllr Nick Denys, Cabinet Member for Planning, Housing and Property, announced a change in direction.
He said: “The council will also consider agreeing to start when the new market rent is paid from a reasonable date, which means there will not be an automatic approach of insisting that any new rents are backdated to when the contract says it can be. Officers will also consider arranging a stepped increase in what is paid - which could mean increasing new rents incrementally during the beginning years of a contract to give shop owners a reasonable time to gain an income to pay the new market rate amount.”
However, this change is predicated on shop owners agreeing to pay the market rate. He went on to say that if a shop owner does not want to pay the new rent then they will have to vacate the site.
Seconds after he sat down, disgruntled shop owners unhappy with his answer walked out of the meeting shouting “shame on you”, leading the Mayor to intervene.
Hillingdon Council’s position is that it has a responsibility to Hillingdon taxpayers to manage its commercial properties properly and achieve best value. Previously, a spokesperson told the LDRS that rents have been below market value for a number of years and, where reviews or renewals are due, rents are being assessed against market evidence and in accordance with the leases agreed by tenants.
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