Vacancy is the most expensive thing that happens to a rented property, and it is almost entirely a function of timing. A month empty costs the rent, the brokerage on the replacement, the fit-out gap, and the management time. Against that, a two or three percent difference in the renewal escalation is noise. Owners who understand this negotiate differently, and earlier.
Day 90
We open the conversation. Not with a number — with a question about the tenant’s plans. Are they staying, are they growing, is anything about the space no longer working. This single conversation, held early, resolves most renewals before either side has taken a position, and it surfaces the departures early enough to market the unit without a gap.
Day 75
We put the proposed terms in writing with the reasoning attached: comparable rents in the immediate micro-market, what has been spent on the property during the term, and the escalation. Tenants accept increases they can see the basis for far more readily than increases presented as a decision. Where we are asking for a larger jump, we say why and offer a longer tenure against it.
Day 60
Decision point. If the tenant is staying, documentation begins now — registration takes time and expired-then-renewed agreements create avoidable exposure. If they are leaving, the unit goes to market this week, with viewings scheduled around the outgoing tenant’s convenience so the relationship stays intact. We also commission any refresh work now rather than after handover, so the two run in parallel.
Day 30
Joint inspection against the original inventory, meter readings, and an agreed deduction list — settled in writing before the exit, not argued over afterwards. Deposit refund scheduled to a date, and honoured on that date. A tenant who leaves cleanly refers the next one; a tenant who chases a deposit for six weeks tells everyone they know.
The escalation question
Our default advice is to renew a good tenant slightly below the theoretical market and to hold the increase modest and predictable. Good tenants pay on time, report faults early, and treat the property as a home or a business rather than a stopgap. Replacing one to capture a small premium is, in our experience, a trade owners regret about four months later.