Pubs challenge Sunak over rent comments

The Campaign for Pubs has written to the chancellor Rishi Sunak to challenge the figures for pub rents he quoted on national television.

Pub operators up and down the country were left astonished when Sunak stated that the average rent payable by a typical pub was in the region of £14,000 to £20,000 a year.

Appearing on the Andrew Marr Show, the chancellor quoted the figure within the context of a conversation about the level of support the government has provided to pubs. 

The exchange sparked a heated online reaction across the hospitality sector, as the figure quoted by the chancellor is a gross underestimate of the rent paid by most pubs and restaurants up and down the country, many of which have much higher annual rent bills. The Campaign for Pubs has called urgently for the chancellor to reveal the source of his figures, which it describes as "wildly inaccurate". 
 
Research conducted by Campaign for Pubs found the lowest rent reported was £21,000, with the average appearing to be around £39,000. This would certainly be in keeping with the 2017 RICS benchmarking figures which placed the national average at £37,691.
 
However, there are many publicans whose rents are far higher still, with many reporting rents above £80,000 and indeed some well over £100,000, especially in London and other busy city settings.