Trigger Events

If there has been an event which is expected to reduce your trade over a continuous 12 month period, you may have the right to request the MRO option to go ‘free of tie’. You may also have the right to ask for a rent assessment. 

For the event to be a ‘trigger event’, it must meet certain conditions set out in the Pubs Code. For example, it must be beyond your control, and not likely to affect all pubs in England and Wales. It also cannot be connected to your personal circumstances. Other conditions apply. 

Steps you need to take to show there has been a trigger event include sending the pub company an analysis of the forecasted level of trading.

A trigger event is an event that will have a significant impact on the trade of your pub and meets certain conditions set out in the Pubs Code. 

It entitles you to ask your pub-owning business (POB) for: 

• A Rent Assessment - which begins with a Rent Assessment Proposal (RAP) for a new tied rent; and/or 
• A Market Rent Only (MRO) option to rent your pub on a free-of-tie basis. 

 A trigger event is one of four gateways to request a MRO option (called ‘MRO events’). You can find out more about the other MRO events here.

The event must either affect: 

• only your pub; or 
• other pubs in the local area but be unlikely to affect all pubs in England and Wales. 

Where the event affects other pubs in the local area, it must directly relate to a change in the tie that the POB has imposed on the pub or have an effect which is directly related to local area changes. These might be changes to: 

• local infrastructure 
• local employment 
• long-term changes to the local economic environment 
• local environmental factors

The trigger event must also meet all the following tests: 

• It results in a decrease in the trade that your pub could reasonably be expected to achieve each month for a continuous 12-month period. 
• It was not reasonably foreseeable when the tenancy was granted, or when any rent assessment (or money payable instead of rent) was last concluded. 
• It is beyond your control and not an event you could have reasonably prevented, or substantially mitigated the effect of.

It cannot be an event that is: 

connected to your personal circumstances (for example your health, your family or your relationships). 

related to an increase in the price at which a tied product or service is supplied to you due to circumstances beyond the POB’s control, such as an increase in: 

- the price at which the POB buys the product or service

- the tax or duty it has to pay because of buying the product or service 

- any other tax or regulatory cost that the POB has to pay which affects its costs 

one of the other MRO events: 

-  a significant increase in the price at which a tied product or service is supplied to you (which also gives you the right to request a rent assessment) 

- a tenancy renewal

- the receipt of a RAP

There are a number of steps you must take if you think there has been a trigger event. 

To show there has been a trigger event you must first send your POB a written analysis of the forecasted level of trading of your pub. This forecast must cover a period of at least the next 12 months. This is your relevant analysis. 

There are strict deadlines that apply to many Pubs Code processes. Please refer to the relevant factsheets on Rent Assessments or the MRO option for information on the trigger event timescales. Tenants are strongly advised to seek independent advice from a qualified professional when considering and preparing a relevant analysis. 

If you and the POB disagree that you are entitled to a Rent Assessment or the MRO option, you can make an arbitration referral within strict time limits. Please see the relevant factsheets for more information.

For general queries about the information in this factsheet, you may contact our enquiry service. 

Please note, we can provide information about your rights, the Code and our processes. We cannot advise you about your case. 

Complete our online enquiry form 

Email: [email protected] 

Call 0800 528 8080 to request a call back

This factsheet provides information to support tenant understanding. It is not a substitute for the Pubs Code framework. Our website contains other useful information about accessing your Pubs Code rights and the PCA’s role as regulator in enforcing those rights. 

You may find it helpful to take independent professional advice before making any decisions that may affect you and your business.

Last updated: October 2025