hi am renting a shop which is attached to 3 other shops.we are all owned by the same landlord.we have recently have our rent increased , probably because our previous landlord wanted to get a good price for when she sold the property. I think our new landlord bought the 4 properties for 1.7 million dollars.

we are paying about on average 40000 each in rent.so in total that is 160000 in rent for all four properties.

all four businesses have been struggling, customer numbers have been quite low since the beginning of the year and we are finding it hard to pay the new rent.the shop i owned increased about 400 dollars a month in rent and this is hard to cope with.we have a ratchet clause saying rent will not go down.

all 4 shops want to write a letter to the landlord asking them to reduce the rent. will it be affordable to the landlord to reduce the rent? i think they are getting 9.4% return for the property (total rent/value of property)

is 9.4% return considered healthy return in the current market for leasing properties?

will our request to lower the rent be considered reasonable or will it be taken seriously?

your help is much appreciated