One in five tenants of big pubcos are unhappy with their landlord, a government watchdog has found.

The Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) has issued the results of this year’s Annual Tied Tenants Survey, which highlight tenant sentiment towards, and their relationships with, the UK’s big six tied pub companies: Admiral, Greene King, Marston’s, Punch, Star Pubs & Bars and Stonegate.

Out of the 1,203 tenants interviewed, 21 per cent were dissatisfied with their tenant relationship, while 63 per cent were satisfied.

Overall pub company satisfaction has remained stable except for pub chain Star, which has improved by nine points since 2023.

The Pubs Code provides tenants with important protections to ensure transparency in their business relationship with their pub company, and the PCA seeks to understand through this survey their overall satisfaction and to look in depth at key areas.

The following were flagged as reasons for dissatisfaction: a lack of support or a one-sided relationship, little to no contact with the business development manager, slow repairs or disputes over them and dilapidations schedules, problems with deliveries and a lack of transparency and communication around changes.

Marston’s, Admiral and Greene King had the highest overall satisfaction at 79 per cent, 78 per cent and 77 per cent respectively, whereas Stonegate tenants were the least satisfied at 47 per cent.

Information given to new tenants at Marston’s, Admiral and Greene King was revealed as the most useful compared to that of the other pub companies.

Tenants also felt the PCA had improved this year, particularly in terms of being independent from the pub companies (64 per cent trust, an increase of seven points from 2023) and familiarity with the rights has remained consistent since last year.

PCA Fiona Disks said: “It is great to see evidence that trust in the Pub Code’s independence has improved this year, especially in terms of being independent from pub companies themselves and that awareness is at similar levels to last year.

“These results inform our regulatory work, and it is important for the industry to see these pub company comparisons.

“The highest overall satisfaction results from Marston’s, Admiral and Greene King set a standard pub companies should be seeking to attain and exceed.

“The results give valuable information for the industry, and this annual survey seeks to drive improvements across the board.”