Labour makes pledge on rent reviews

LABOUR has pledged to scrap upward-only commercial rent reviews to help struggling businesses stay afloat if the party is handed power.

It said the controversial clauses had trapped firms in boom-time leases and they must be outlawed.

Ciarán Lynch, housing and local government spokesman, said the combination of the collapse of the property market and the rent review system had shut-down businesses with the loss of 37,000 retail jobs.