The vast majority of Canadian doctors lease their office space.

Historically, the landlord-tenant relationship has often been described as “feudal,” a reflection of the conflicting goals between the two parties: tenants aim to minimize rent, while landlords seek to maximize it.

Yet, it’s important to recognize that a property owner can significantly influence both the day-to-day image of your practice and the eventual sale of it. A landlord’s cooperation or lack thereof can shape how a prospective buyer perceives the security of their investment.

What Can Strain the Landlord-Tenant Relationship?

Doctors, like any prudent business owners, naturally aim to negotiate the lowest possible rent during lease signings or renewals. However, in pursuit of these savings, some tenants may become combative, disrespectful, or overly aggressive behaviours that landlords frequently report.

From the landlord’s perspective, maximizing property value is paramount, and rental income is the key driver. Higher rents directly translate to higher property valuations. This is sound business logic.

So where does the tension arise?

Many tenants dread lease negotiations and opt to hire third-party “lease specialists” to handle the process. While this can be helpful, it can also backfire. Some of these specialists, in an effort to prove their worth, adopt an unnecessarily aggressive stance. Since they don’t have to maintain a long-term relationship with the landlord, they may push for unreasonable terms, damaging goodwill in the process.

When you factor in the fees paid to these third parties, the actual savings may be negligible especially if the relationship with the landlord is strained as a result.

In other cases, tenants may withhold rent payments as a form of protest against perceived landlord shortcomings. This tactic is risky. It can place the tenant in default, potentially giving the landlord grounds to terminate the lease. Relocating a dental practice is expensive and disruptive a scenario best avoided.

While annual rent increases of 2% to 5% may seem steep, they typically have a minimal impact on overall practice profitability. Negotiation is wise, but defaulting on your lease is far costlier in the long run.‍

When It’s Time to Sell

Eventually, every practice changes hands. When that time comes, you’ll need your landlord’s cooperation to assign the lease to the buyer. If the relationship has been strained, the landlord may be less inclined to assist or may even obstruct the process.

I’ve seen practice sales delayed or derailed entirely due to a landlord’s lingering resentment toward a difficult tenant. This is often their final opportunity to express frustration over years of perceived slights, whether it’s complaints about light bulbs, snow removal, garden maintenance, HVAC issues, or roof leaks.

A Long-Term Perspective

As someone who has leased space for multiple business ventures, I understand the occasional frustrations that come with being a tenant. But I also recognize that landlords are business owners too, striving to earn a return on their investment just like me. Ultimately, both parties are motivated by the same goal: peaceful, productive use of the space.

This relationship is meant to be collaborative, not adversarial. If I ever needed to sell one of my businesses on short notice, I’m confident my landlord would be cooperative because we’ve built a relationship based on mutual respect.

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Ready to Strengthen Your Landlord Relationship?

Contact RLCI at 705-743-1220 to schedule your free 30-minute consultation. Let’s ensure your lease supports not hinders the future sale of your practice.