The tenants were sent ‘deeds of variation’ (DoV) letters following a rent review, seen by the Publican’s Morning Advertiser, stating that they must order stock online or face a £150 fine, “or such greater amount as may be reasonable”, and must pay for utility supplies on a pay-as-you-go meter system.
DoV letters are common when a tenant’s contract includes an upwards-only rent condition, but usually only recognise that rent reviews can be upwards or downwards.
'It's not right'
Pam Cook, of the Horns in Watford, Hertfordshire, said she received a letter last November and Enterprise only retracted the clauses last week after she consulted a lawyer and told the pubco she would not be able to pay a beer bill until she received a £14,000 rent rebate as agreed.
“What worries me is they try and slip this stuff in all the time and hope you don’t notice,” she said.
“It’s not right that they are trying to shaft people. I wonder how many people have actually signed these things.”
'I felt intimidated'
Mike Wilkins, of the Rose & Crown in Godalming, Surrey, was also sent a DoV letter after a rent cut was agreed in January.
In correspondence, Enterprise insisted the changes were “very basic” and said: “We will not apply the rent reduction to your account until we have a signed rent review memorandum and a signed DoV.”
However, after Wilkins consulted chartered surveyor David Morgan, Enterprise withdrew the conditions.
“There were no pre-conditions when the new rent was agreed by email, so I was really surprised when they sent me these DoVs,” he said. “I felt like I was being intimidated by them.”
'This issue has now been addressed'
A spokesman for Enterprise said: “In accordance with our Code of Practice, we review all our rents at the time of cyclical rent reviews on an upwards or downwards basis. Where a rent is reduced on older agreements which contain an ‘upwards only’ provision we document this by way of a Deed of Variation.
"In the instance of Mr Wilkins, and in a small number of other cases between October 2013 and February 2014, this Deed contained some additional provisions in error.
"This issue has now been addressed and we are in the process of contacting all those affected publicans.”