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About Michael Lever
Born 1949 in Ealing, West London, educated at City of London School, my commercial property career began at Montagu Evans, London in 1967. In 1971, I joined my late father's firm, Fineman Lever & Co, Chartered Surveyors. In 1975, I established my practice in Harrow, NW London when I pioneered the idea of specialising in rent review and lease renewal. In 1993, I moved my office to Ledbury, Herefordshire.
As well as advising clients, I contribute to professional wisdom and market intelligence by writing about rent review, business tenancies, and retail property.
In 1978, I published a pamphlet "The Framework of Rent Review Clauses" which was given publicity in leading law and property journals. In 1983, I published a 28-page booklet ' How to do a Rent Review’; priced at £5 it was an instant hit at more than 2000 sales; and in a letter to me was described by Professor John Ratcliffe, then Dean of the Faculty of the Built Environment at the Polytechnic of the South Bank, London (now the University of the South Bank, London) as an "excellent digest of a particular complex area of professional practice and study". In 1984, I published a booklet, reprinted 1988, entitled “Investment in Secondary Shops” and in 1988 “How to Read an Auction Catalogue”: more than 1500 booklets were sold and many landlords have used my services regularly ever since. In 1988 I published a booklet "The Psychology of Rent Review Negotiation" and after that numerous pamphlets and newsletters; and over the years, my contribution to the world of rent review is such that many of my original ideas nowadays pervade popular thinking.
My publications are welcomed by solicitors, barristers, chartered surveyors, accountants, students, public and private property companies, private investors, banks, and multiple retailers. My letters and articles appear in Estates Gazette, Law Society's Gazette, Solicitors' Journal, Chartered Surveyor, Arbitrator, Estates Times, The Grocer, Ledbury Reporter, Financial Times, Property Law Bulletin, Central (Institute of Directors), Investor's Chronicle, Property Week, and Retail Week. I contribute to the commercial property forum and as a guest writer for LandlordZone.
I am mentioned in a Blundell Memorial Lecture and in a 'footnote' in 2 law books - 'Land Options' by Barnsley (1980); and 'Drafting Business Leases' by Lewison (1981) (nowadays the Rt. Honourable Sir Kim Lewison of the Court of Appeal). In 1984, I launched Quarterly Commentary, later renamed Current Review and now Rent Review Matters, my free on-line newsletter about rent review, investment and retailing. In 1995, I was awarded a prize for my essay on the Future of Town Centres and Retailing in a competition sponsored by Marks & Spencer. In 1996, I received a Certificate of Academic Standing from the Law Society. I am a member of the Shop Agents Society. I have experience as an executor and a trustee.
Many of my Clients have used my services regularly since 1975. Regular Clients include property companies, private investors, family trusts, charities, multiple retailers, and local businesses. For a list of companies for whom I've acted for and against, please click here. For my newsletter, please click here. For whereabouts of properties that have come my way please click here.
There is no set-formula for rent review, but there is a recipe for success. I consider each situation on its own merits and tailor my strategy according to the circumstances. Having an unusually good understanding of retailing as well as property, I am both professional and entrepreneurial in my approach.
My services are frequently recommended by chartered surveyors, accountants, business advisers, and solicitors.
To contact me, please email help@michaellever.co.uk or telephone 01531 631892
I look forward to helping you in some way.
Michael Lever
PS - On a personal note:
A wholefood organic vegetarian for more than thirty years, other interests include healing, counselling, gardening, weightlifting, photography, and playing badminton. In 1980, I created Marketing Yourself, a practical philosophy based on holistic principles that when applied to a business will result in long-term consistent success. I own the company, Marketing Yourself Ltd and the domain marketingyourself.co.uk I also invented Inspirational Counselling, for resolving psychological problems in an hour or so. Other spare-time ventures during the1980s include Weekend Friends - a not-for-profit singles club that I co-organised for just over 3 years: WF was considered one of the best in London; at peak we had 120 members and through WF several people married or started living together - and The Healthy Living Centre at which for about 5 years I co-organised workshops and talks facilitated by leading lights of the mind-body-spirit movement; (and which were it not for bad advice from my accountant at that time would not have resulted in my losing ownership of Healthy Living Ltd, a company we'd formed for the purpose). When you relocate to somewhere new, as I did from NW London to a rural market town, one way to discover how a place works is to contribute to the community so, in Ledbury, I have served on the committees of Friends of Dymock Poets (Membership Secretary, 1993-1994), Ledbury Badminton Club (Secretary 1994-2006), and from 2009 to 2011, I was Chairman and director of Ledbury and District Society Trust Ltd, a registered charity and civic society, with more than 440 members, and owning two heritage buildings. In 2012, I was invited to write a book about Ledbury's history, one of a national series of local history books published by Amberley Publishing. Available since 2013 via Amazon and good bookshops, Ledbury through Time, a photographic tour of Ledbury using old and new photos, with informative captions; for more details here, please click here.