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STAFF OF MUNCHIES café in Dublin city centre have been locked out by their landlord following a rent dispute.
Arriving at the South William Street café on Saturday morning, staff found that the locks had been changed during the night without any prior contact. Security are now inside the café and entry hasn’t been granted to recover personal belongings or to contact clients.
The ten staff employed by the café, one of seven in the Munchies chain, are now unsure of their future.
A reduced rate of rent had been paid on the 35 year lease for a number of months with no objection from the landlord, Munchies manager Elaine O’Hora told TheJournal.ie.
She welcomed the support they have received, saying that they have been sent many texts and emails from customers upset by the closure of 25-year-old cafe.
(Image Credit: Chloe Harris)
The lease contains the controversial upward only rent review (UORR) clause like many other properties in the city centre. This means that the rent paid on the property can only rise or remain level, but never fall.
Dublin Chamber of Commerce says that many tenants are having issues paying their rent, with UORR clauses frequently playing a part, notable in the high-profile examples of Bewley’s and HMV.
They encourage that tenants and landlords engage in discussions if there is a problem as it will often result in a “win-win situation” for both parties.
A recent High Court ruling involving Bewley’s café on Grafton Street stated that their rent must fall to match current market conditions.
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“A reduced rate of rent had been paid on the 35 year lease for a number of months with no objection from the landlord” Munchies manager Elaine O’Hora said.
I think he’s now objecting.
The tenant should go to the guards and report this harassment.
I wouldn’t say this is harassment, its a rental dispute. Harassment would be a continued sustain activity, this happened suddenly overnight.
Does the manager have this in writing or did they do like certain other establishments and inform the landlord of such then just start doing it without coming to a formal agreement?
Surely UORRs are anti-competition?
I’d like to hear the landlord’s side of the story
Hi Brian, we’re attempting to establish his identity.
Wouldn’t good journalistic practice mean establishing that beforehand. What a hack.
Ireland tolerates scams such as this whereby the landlord’s rent can increase regardless of the economic circumstances. All enforced by overfed and overpaid solicitors, Senior Counsels and Judges.
It’s not a scam. A contract is a contract.
Whilst getting rid of UORR is a worthy objective, it would probably require a referendum due to the damage to property rights.
It would also mean NAMA taking a significant write down on their (i.e. our) property portfolio.
Feel so sorry for the staff there as I always find them really pleasant and friendly. I thought Upward Only Rent Reviews were dealt with. Ridiculous that this still applies.
Applies to existing contracts, think they have been removed for new ones.
Sneaky behaviour by the landLord. I hope it works out for the staff.
Not really sneaky if he has followed proper procedure. We havent heard the landlords side yet? My pity is for the staff hoping they have been kept informed and up to date
Greed has the law on its side again in Ireland it appears.
i think the greed works both ways, i paid €9.90 for a tuna panini and coffee in there this year. you wouldnt see the panini on the plate. makes sense to me now though, high rent, pricey food. never again.
Very sorry to hear about your crappy tuna sandwich. Meanwhile, people out of work.
Sorry to hear that you had a crappy “panini” as we don’t do paninis.. we do CIBATA bread, which is totaly different then a panini. plus when you have a business you have to watch your prices as every ingredient is expensive. And i absolutely don’t think it was that exaggeratedly small. plus there are so many things in life to worry then your 9.90 sandwich. plus you should know that shops on south william street and all the streets around, are expensive due to the central situated place. so get over it, and next time make yourself a sandwich at home if your not willing to pay the price.
Two sides to every story.
Although I don’t agree with upward only and i know many landlords are pure scrooges there are two sides to very story. My mate had to rent his apartment out and move home as he couldn’t afford the mortgage anymore. The tenants were fine for a while and then just said they weren’t paying the agreed rent anymore. They paid bits here and there and he had no comeback they had all the rights so rather than spend a fortune paying some brief he changed the locks and to be honest how can you blame him.
If my tenants stop paying the rent I won’t be waiting for the prtb or solicitors to fight my corner. I’d do whatever it takes to protect my property and my income. I won’t ever let someone effectively take food off my table and clothes off my children’s backs by not paying rents due. Whatever it takes and id that means going in heavy to get rid of bad tenants then so be it. Im sick of hearing the excuses and whining from tenant groups and do-gooders.
Well said
The landlord has broken the law here – the tenant should sue his or her for loss of revenue/goodwill/inconvenience & trespass – owning a building doesn’t exempt you from the law or remove the ability to seek professional advice to deal with tenants professionally
Billy
Don’t be so full winded from your bar stool. You have no idea of the issues that warranted the owner of the premises to seize same . The story simply quotes a member of staff in respect of the rent which was not being paid. When you recover from your self importance you might consider that the property could be someone’s pension scheme or purchased with their life’s savings .
Pretty generous pension – a building on South William Street.
It is often argued by employers that we are in a “global economy” and we should accept lower wages because we must compete with workers in Asia and Moldovia.
The “global economy” argument is lost, however, on landlords who seem to claim some exemption from the “global economy”.
Regardless of whether the landlord was justified in changing the locks, the fact they’re preventing the staff from recovering personal belongings is a pretty telling assessment of their character.
As Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko would say – Greed is good. The landlord is probably also a bondholder and married to a politician.
The time will come when they will have to reduce the rent as nobody will be renting and the 2020 deadline of having everybody working won’t be a problem as most young people will have left the country because of corruption by this and the previous government and their inertia to do anything to protect it’s citizens,
So if this greedy Landlord has more than one business and if going thru the Upward Rent only system.
When he nolonger has business paying him, where will he be…..
Talk about strangling the Golden Goose
I’m pretty sure a landlord can’t just go in and change the locks without prior notice. Only hearing one side of the story we don’t know if he did give notice, however if he didn’t then I hope the shop owners sue him for everything they lost as a result.
This crazy system of uorr in this country is a major contributor to the unimployment problem, and just protects the vested interests and those already on high incomes,it is anti employment and anti consumer,it should be abolished as a matter of urgency,and market conditions should dictate what rents are paid,not people sitting behind a desk whose priority is to squeeze as much as possible from them
The same thing happened to Meadows & Byrne in CHQ in 2011.
Dublin Docklands Authority changed the locks and shut them down.
Yet people don’t pay their mortgages for years and they receive special treatment…
The problem is the government/local authorities you know the amount of crap landlords have to aby by + the expenses, the landlord always gets the blame when they just passing on what the receive.
Seems a shame that the landlord was (apparently) unwilling to renegotiate rent after 25 years of upward only rent changes. The cost of refurbishment must be prohibitive for an established business but hopefully they can get out of their agreement and find somewhere cheaper nearby with someone more accomodating.
This has happened in a few places I know, tenant Decides to pay a lower rent with no aggreement with owner if the property. I find it funny that all the flak is on the landlord and not on the owner of the cafe.
Land lords are like bankers and politicians don’t. Give a Shite
MAKE ME A SANDWICH!
Audi alteram partem
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