A West London dentist has warned that a proposed rent hike by the local council of around 200 per cent will lead to local residents “pulling out their own teeth at home”.
Keval Shah, a Director at Teeth and Smiles Dental Practice on King’s Road, is one of several business owners based in a parade by the World’s End Estate in Chelsea who has warned about the impacts on the community if proposed rent increases are implemented.
“If the figures don’t add up then we either have to close the practice, move to another area…or become fully private,” Mr Shah told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
A spokesperson for Kensington and Chelsea Council, the landlord, said the local authority “must strike a balance between supporting local business and ensuring we are getting a reasonable return for taxpayers on their money”.
They added all businesses involved have had independent surveyors review the proposals and agree they are reasonable.
The premises in question are found towards the western end of King’s Road by the Cremorne and World’s End estates.
In contrast to the high-end clothes stores, cafés and restaurants lining much of the famous West London highway, the parade is instead something of a one-stop-shop for various key services.
As well as the dentist and the pharmacy this includes a bakery, a laundrette, a restaurant, a couple of newsagents and a GP clinic.
Such services are essential in an area which sits in the bottom decile for deprivation according to recent Government figures.
Four of the 19 premises are currently facing increases in their rent, which the council says are normal contractual rent review and lease renewals all of which were pre-agreed. Others have agreed new rents in the last year or two.
For Teeth and Smiles Dental Practice, Mr Shah said the council is proposing to increase the yearly rent paid from just under £34,000 to around £105,000, backdated to 2020.
The LDRS understands this is due to Kensington and Chelsea temporarily holding rent rises for businesses in 2020 due to Covid.
Mr Shah, who has been based on the same site with the practice since 1999, said: “We are supposed to provide NHS dentistry. If the rent goes up to [£105,000], backdated, NHS dentistry cannot be funded through just NHS work. We [would] have to reduce our provision for patients and then just offer more private and stop taking NHS patients.”
Asked what the estate residents would do if the practice had to shift to private work, Mr Shah said: “They will be pulling out their own teeth at home.”
Mr Shah claimed the council had previously negotiated new leases via an in-house team though that it had taken on an external company this time.
A spokesperson for Kensington and Chelsea said most leases are done internally though for specialist areas, such as medical leases, a dedicated external company with experience in the field is used.
Tiger, who runs the John Forrest Master Baker with his family, said they agreed a new rent with the council a couple of years ago.
The council said the new rate represented a 17 per cent increase over the previous five-year period, compared to inflation over the same period of 33 per cent. Asked about the impacts of the increase, Tiger said: “There’s not a lot we can do really.”
The LDRS understands one of the other premises facing a hike is The Good Practice GP, which has its rent paid by the NHS.
Rohit Kotecha, a Director of the local pharmacy who has been based on the parade since the mid-1980s, said he last had an increase a couple of years ago when he claimed it went up by around 20 per cent.
He said he is concerned about any future increases and the impacts on the businesses along the parade.
“We are not Sloane Square, at the end of King’s Road,” he said. “There’s no way we can command those high prices. Technically we serve the community at the back, on the World’s End Estate, on the Cremorne Estate. Those people need services for the community.”
Mr Kotecha continued: “These sorts of shops can only afford to pay a certain amount. They can’t pay any more than that. Otherwise they don’t become viable. We are not like clothes shops or shoe shops or coffee shops or high-end shops where we can command higher prices.”
Ben Coleman, the Labour MP for Chelsea and Fulham, said: “It shocks me that councillors are threatening the future of shops and health services which serve the entire community, including many people living on very low incomes.
“A 200 per cent rent increase for the local dentist is obscene. If he has to stop doing NHS work, this will hit residents of all backgrounds.
“This started more than a year ago. All the shops I have spoken to think the council is behaving brutally. Councillors need to rethink their plans and put local businesses and people first.”
A spokesperson for Kensington and Chelsea Council said: “The council owns a number of buildings with business tenants, and we work very hard to set fair, reasonable rents at market rate, depending on the building, type of occupier and circumstances. The income from these properties helps support the delivery of our vital services for vulnerable people.
“We must strike a balance between supporting local business and ensuring we are getting a reasonable return for taxpayers on their money. We have proposed rent rises to four businesses out of 19 on this section of the Kings Road as part of their contractual rent reviews in their leases, and these agreements are in place usually for three to five years, meaning our tenants have certainty over their rent and can plan for their business longer term.
“To help some businesses we made the decision in 2020 to temporarily postpone rent increases due to Covid-19, as a result two of the businesses are now having the delayed increases to their rent.
“All the businesses involved have had independent surveyors look at the proposed increases and the surveyors agree that they are reasonable.”
