The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in Scotland has seen a 30% increase in the number of rent reviews taking place as part of its Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) in the last year.

The rent review service is being used by offices, retail and shopping centres, licensed premises and small retail units. Rent reviews can be carried out for any business from newsagents to large factories with annual rents from under £15,000 to over £1m. Small shops with an annual rent of under £15,000 have seen a +20% increase in disputes with tenants refusing to accept a hike in rent.

RICS Scotland has been offering the DRS for over 40 years and is the largest provider of the service for the property and construction sector in Scotland. The service has four main elements: rent reviews, adjudication, mediation and arbitration. The aim is to sort out the situation as quickly as possible.