Traders on a parade of independent shops in west London are at risk of closure as the council plans to more than double the rent of some tenants.

A number of shops on Mulberry Parade in West Drayton received notice from Hillingdon Council that their rents will be increased to levels which one owner says has resulted in him being on sleeping medication. Hillingdon Council says rents have been below market value for years and argues it has a duty to residents to “to manage its commercial properties properly and achieve best value”.

Traders say their rent review was supposed to take place between one and three years ago. Now, all shops are facing not only an exponential increase to their rent, but this rent is set to be backdated to when the rent review was supposed to be undertaken – despite, according to traders, it being the council who opted not to conduct the rent reviews when they were due.

Louise McGinty owns Funky Flowers and Nessy’s and Norman’s, alongside her husband Eddie. The flower shop has been serving local residents for more than 20 years, with the coffee shop open for around a year.

The coffee shop is named after her sister Vanessa (Nessy), who sadly passed away in July 2025 at just 24 years old, something Louise says “was a terrible loss to our family” leaving them “in complete shock”.

Only ten weeks later John Norman, her husband’s close childhood friend, also died suddenly at home. She told the LDRS: “When we had the opportunity to take over the unit at number five we knew we wanted to create a place with meaning – a place that wasn’t just about coffee but a place that people could offload their problems and feel safe.”

The cafe regularly hosts talking mornings whilst promoting third party services to those who need them.

However, the future of her business now hangs in the balance as Hillingdon Council plans to hike her rent by more than 100 per cent. She said: “The council have looked at properties in the borough and said that they are undervalued so they have to increase the rent.

“They are aggressively going to do this. If we accept the increase there are implications on everyone’s business; for example, we would lose an apprentice and a part-time member of staff overnight.”

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that she doesn’t feel the rent increase is fair, and said the council simply “doesn’t care”. She added: “It’s a big stress, none of us can invest because we don’t know if we are still going to be here.

“I think we should have a fair increase, I think the council need to be open to discussions with us instead of hiding away and refusing to speak to us, listen to us about our concerns.”

She questioned whether an impact assessment been done to understand the impact on the community if the businesses close.

Carewell Chemist sits around the corner of the parade and has been run by the Mistry family for 35 years. The family say that the council had agreed terms in principle for a new lease – this was until staff turnover at the council led them to deal with a different council officer, with different ideas, they claim.

Jatish Mistry told the LDRS that their rent has also been increased by more than 100 per cent. He claims that once a new council officer took over their case, she told him to disregard the previous agreement and slapped him with the new proposed rental costs.

Since then, he says the council has served the chemist a Section 25 Notice. This is served on a commercial tenant when ending a tenancy, giving the opportunity to accept a new lease or end the tenancy.

Jatish said that in serving this notice, the council is effectively telling them to accept the new terms and stay put, or to pack up and go, describing it as “heavy handed and intimidating”.

He added: “They aren’t behaving ethically, all we want is for them to be a bit understanding.”

Jatish says that the lease he had been offered was for 15 years, however it has been reduced to six, which he claims came with “no explanation”. Also included in the new terms is a mutual break clause, something which they didn’t have before – meaning that the council could evict them from the site in future.

His father, Dalpat Mistry said his legal costs have “skyrocketed” and is concerned this will only increase if the matter is taken to court.

Bobby Gharu runs Dem Barbers on Mulberry Parade. He too is facing the potential of losing his business as the council increases his rent – something which he said he is “losing sleep over”.

He told the LDRS that the council is also attempting to backdate his payments after his lease renewal came four years later than anticipated. He said: “Bringing up my rent isn’t the issue.

“My problem is they are putting me back into debt even before I am charged the new rent with the backdating… It’s terrible. I won’t survive if they put my rent up.”

He says that he feels he has been treated “very rudely” by council officers handling his lease. He added: “It’s scary, how they’re treating us is sad. We thought we could rely on these guys.”

The local chippy on Mulberry Parade, The Codfather, is also bracing for a rental increase. Despite no discussions taking place at the time of publication, the owner, having seen what is happening to other shops, anticipates that his rental increase looms.

Sukhpreet Singh Kang says that the stress of the likely impending increase has led to him being prescribed sleeping medication. He said: “I’m worried now about what’s coming, it’s stressed me out.

“I’ve already invested £60,000, I don’t know whether to invest any more. I live above [The Codfather], if I lose my shop, I lose my home – I could be homeless.”

He described the behaviour of Hillingdon Council, according to other tenants, as akin to a private landlord. He added: “The politicians are running away, but when they want the votes they run to us.

“When we need help, they want to wash their hands of us… they do nothing for us.”

A Hillingdon Council spokesperson said: “As a borough, we’re very much open for business and want Mulberry Parade and the businesses based there to thrive, and we will continue to work constructively with tenants.

“However, the council also has a responsibility to Hillingdon taxpayers to manage its commercial properties properly and achieve best value. Rents at Mulberry Parade have been below market value for a number of years and, where reviews or renewals are due, rents are being assessed against market evidence and in accordance with the leases agreed by tenants.

“We completely reject any suggestion that tenants are being treated rudely, unfairly or intimidated. Asking a tenant to comply with the terms of their lease, or raising a breach where one has occurred, is a normal and necessary part of responsible property management. It would be wrong for the council simply to ignore contractual obligations because enforcing them may be unwelcome.

“There is no intention to force successful businesses out of Mulberry Parade. We recognise the pressures businesses face and have made concessions to tenants over the years, but we cannot indefinitely subsidise commercial businesses through below-market rents at the expense of our residents.

“We will continue to engage with each tenant, but any agreement must be fair, reflect the market and protect the interests of Hillingdon taxpayers.”