We can help you to determine the appropriate rent using our extensive data bank of properties in the UK.

Property is often the second highest business cost after wages. A rent rise has a significant impact on profit, so challenging it can be very worthwhile.

Your surveyor's first job is to read your lease which includes the terms of your rent review. This is an important step as leases can be difficult to interpret.

Your surveyor considers your entire lease, as well as the timetable and your need to serve notices. Your lease may have set different terms for rent review to those on which property is currently letting. Careful reading may also show terms which your landlord has not taken into account in the proposed new rent. All legal terms dictated by your lease must be clarified at the outset. Until this is done your surveyor has no clear idea of what to value or the basis of valuation. The difference to the rent can be considerable.

The relationship with your landlord must be considered. A surveyor will maintain good diplomatic relations and will also consider your overall objectives. You may want to take up several other property matters with your landlord and rent reviews often give rise to other negotiations. Your surveyor is qualified to advise you on the overall commercial impact of proposals and to reflect this in your rent review and parallel negotiations. Once settled, your new rent cannot usually be reduced before the end of the lease. If you settle too high, you reduce the value of your lease, which may become hard to sell.

In short, yes. A professional often finds extra keys to turn a negotiation in your favour. Employing a surveyor means you have expert backing, and this alone can discourage a landlord from excessive demands. Savings found by a professional can pay back the cost of fees very quickly.

You protect yourself and your company by instructing a Chartered Surveyor to act for you, who is always required to hold professional liability insurance.

Most negotiations end in agreement and a review memorandum is prepared. Although it is a non-controversial document it is often prepared by solicitors. It is attached to the lease, and your rent account is adjusted accordingly.

No surveyor willingly subjects a client to the stresses of arbitration; however a goal of negotiation is to establish exactly what can be achieved by negotiation without the need to go to arbitration. If all else fails, leases normally allow either formal arbitration or an arbitration-style process. Only a minority of cases use these and the decision to do so is taken by you in the light of the situation at the time

Savings can range from 5% to 50% or more of a landlord's initial demand. Savings often run to the end of the lease, as the new rent often becomes a new baseline for the rest of the lease term.

An important area of expertise of the rent review surveyor is the considerable body of case law on rent review. Many issues have come before arbitrators and the courts. Here are three common ones:

• Many leases make the tenant pay for all repairs, the cost of building insurance, and the cost of a managing agent. Actual service charge costs under a particular lease may be uncompetitive today. Depending on the terms of your lease this may be relevant at rent review.

• A business tenant who has carried out improvements must know how to resist a landlord trying to reap the benefit of these for him or herself at rent review.

• Every lease restricts the use of the property. Early cases allowed some tenants to claim discounts because their specified use meant the property could only be let to a limited market. Landlords countered these decisions by inserting clauses in new leases to stop restrictions on use being taken into account at rent review. Depending on the lease, these attempts by landlords may be of limited effect only.

The next step is to survey your property. After taking floor areas and noting features and superficial condition of the building and surrounding area, your surveyor looks at the legal terms of letting in the light of your actual property. For instance a legal right to sub-let a floor over a shop will be worth less without a separate entrance to that upper floor.

When examining current lettings it is not enough to take the face value per square foot of each current deal as reported. Their circumstances often vary considerably from the basis to be assumed on your review. It is important to investigate the circumstances of known deals in your area before assuming they indicate correct current value on your rent review.

Your surveyor will also consider case law. A good deal of case law covers rent review and the right approach to take. Finally your surveyor stands back and considers all the assembled information, and sets out a valuation for negotiation.

Treat your lease renewal like any contract you renew with a supplier. What are your business needs? What is your market doing? Do you need bigger or smaller premises? Would you trade more profitably somewhere else? Do you want to stay as you are? Would you prefer to alter the property? What are your outstanding financial liabilities under your existing lease? Answering these and similar questions gives you a foundation for your renewal strategy. Your chartered surveyor will help you establish your strategy.

Consult your solicitor. Never delay. To secure your rights you must apply to court on a strict timescale, strict rules apply to your circumstances. Your legal position can be more complex than you think. UK courts constantly emphasize that leaseholders who fail to take action risk losing their rights.

Once your solicitor has secured your legal position, your court application for lease renewal sets a framework for negotiations. Your chartered surveyor helps you with professional advice and negotiation on your commercial position. You and your landlord may agree whatever is jointly acceptable for your new lease. If you cannot agree the court will impose its own terms. Even then, if you still do not like the terms you can apply to have them revoked. Most lease renewals are agreed without a court hearing. If a hearing is necessary your chartered surveyor can give expert help.

18 months usually allow you to consider all your options at lease renewal. You should certainly look into the matter with only 12 months left to run. As time passes you leave yourself fewer options in dealing with your landlord and your general situation.

The Landlord and Tenant Acts secure most business leaseholders right to lease renewal. To secure a right to renew you MUST follow correct legal procedures. It is up to you to act.

You would expect a surveyor to say yes to this question, but it is usually true. A professional often finds extra keys to turn a negotiation in your favour. Employing a surveyor means you intend to be taken seriously and this alone can discourage a landlord from excessive demands. Tenants have often saved thousands of pounds off a landlord's demand by taking professional advice.

Savings found by a professional can pay back the cost of fees very quickly. Superb commercial negotiators in their own field recognise they may not know enough about land law and valuation to be sure they are getting the best deal.

You protect yourself and your company by instructing a chartered surveyor to act for you, who is always required to hold professional liability insurance. Your interests always come first as they do whenever you instruct a professional from a major institution.

You can be turned out. You may find yourself agreeing a new rent well over the odds rather than be turned out. Most landlords know you will not usually want to pay costs of moving. Shops often lose trade if they move.

You may also find yourself agreeing to meet extra costs as well as the rent. If the current property market is buoyant, failing to secure your rights can be even more serious than if the market is depressed.