• Cllr Gill Mitchell talked about the “fair tips” campaign and asked our members for their support. NLTA will pass on information as we receive it or you can contact her on gill.mitchell@brighton-hove.gov.uk
• PCSO John Sharman gave members the September crime figures ( available from Peter ) and invited anyone with any Police related problems to a Police “drop in surgery” on the 9th of December from 6 to 9pm at Brighthelm. Sharon thanked John for attending – he can be contacted at john.sharman@sussex.pnn.police.uk.

David gave an excellent talk and explained how he worked for both landlords and tenants.
He talked about yields and told us some commercial property values had dropped by approximately 30% in the last year. He and then discussed how different circumstances could affect the values – length of lease, whether you were negotiating during a recession or a more normal trading period. He also pointed out that there still appeared to be a high demand from new traders coming into the North Laine and that this would keep market prices for rentals to a high level.

Average square foot values were discussed for the busiest North Laine Streets and these were; Bond Street £60 - £70 sqft, Gardner Street £60 – £65 sqft, Kensington Gardens £50 - £60 sqft and Sydney Street £45 - £50 sqft.

David took questions and gave us and spoke about the change in the law in 1995 that only makes the last person ( before the present tenant ) named on the lease liable if a tenant defaults - not the original lease holder.

He also discussed what do about a section 25 notice which is served as a lease comes to an end and stressed how important it was to secure your tenancy by replying in good time.
David also gave details of how to access your ITZA (zone A) figure to give you a guide to how close your rent is to the average in your street.