Chair rental · Agreement
Barber chair rental agreement: what it must include (UK)
The HMRC test, the twelve clauses, the red flags, and a one-page outline you can fill in.
The HMRC test
HMRC published sector guidance on rent-a-chair on 13 May 2025 after shops began moving staff onto chairs. The message: status is not a matter of choice. The signs of a genuine rental are that the barber sets prices, keeps a client list, chooses working hours, can substitute someone else, uses their own products and tools, invoices or pays rent rather than receiving wages, and carries their own insurance. Set hours and set prices from the shop point the other way. HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax tool walks through it in ten minutes; do it together before you sign.
The twelve clauses
| Clause | What it should say |
|---|---|
| Parties and premises | Shop name and address, your name and trading name, which chair or station |
| Rent | Amount, frequency, whether VAT is included, first review date and notice for changes |
| Deposit | Amount, what it covers, when it is returned |
| Days and hours | Which days the chair is yours, whether you may open early or late, holiday cover |
| What is included | Products, towels, laundry, card machine, reception, booking system, utilities |
| Self-employment | You set prices, keep your takings, choose your hours, may substitute, pay your own tax and NI |
| Clients and data | Clients you bring or who book you by name are yours; contact details go with you; any non-solicitation limited to named walk-ins and a short period |
| Branding | Whether you trade under your own name inside the shop and on your own booking link |
| Insurance | Shop covers the premises and public areas; you hold public liability and treatment cover |
| Health and safety | Who keeps the station and tools clean and to what standard; shop’s duties for the premises |
| Termination | Notice each way (two to four weeks), what ends it immediately, deposit return |
| Disputes | Talk first, then mediation; which law applies (England and Wales, or Scotland) |
Red flags
- Rent quoted without VAT that turns out to carry it.
- The shop sets your prices or your rota, or takes your card payments and pays you later.
- A non-solicitation clause covering every client you cut for a year or more.
- Three months’ notice for you, one week for the shop.
- No list of what is included.
- A deposit with no return date.
- “We do not do contracts here.”
A plain-English outline
Use this as the skeleton of a one-page agreement and fill in your own figures. It is a checklist, not legal advice.
CHAIR RENTAL AGREEMENT Between: [Shop name], [address] (the Shop) And: [Your name], trading as [trading name] (the Barber) 1. Chair. The Shop lets the Barber use chair [number] and its station at the address above. 2. Days. [Mon to Sat] from [09:00] to [19:00], or as agreed in writing. The Barber sets their own hours within these. 3. Rent. £[150] a week [plus / including] VAT, paid [every Monday] by bank transfer. Reviewed on [date]; changes need [4] weeks’ notice. 4. Deposit. £[150], returned within [14] days of the end of this agreement less any agreed damage. 5. Included. [Chair, station, basin, electricity, water, towels and laundry]. Not included: [products, card machine]. 6. Self-employment. The Barber is self-employed, sets their own prices, keeps their own takings, may send a suitable substitute, and is responsible for their own tax, National Insurance and insurance. 7. Clients. Clients introduced by the Barber, and clients who book the Barber by name, are the Barber’s, including their contact details. 8. Insurance. The Shop insures the premises. The Barber holds public liability and treatment insurance of at least £[1,000,000]. 9. Standards. The Barber keeps their station and tools clean and follows the Shop’s health and safety rules. The Shop keeps the premises safe. 10. Ending. Either side may end this agreement with [3] weeks’ written notice. Serious breach ends it immediately. 11. Law. [England and Wales / Scotland]. Signed: ____________ (Shop) ____________ (Barber) Date: ________
Got an empty chair?
List it free. Barbers on TrimCheck see it first, and every barber searching for a chair in your area finds it here.
Questions barbers ask
Do I need a written chair rental agreement?
Yes. HMRC’s May 2025 guidance on rent-a-chair says employment status follows the facts, and a written agreement that matches how you actually work is the first thing anyone asks for in a dispute or a tax check. A page or two is enough if it covers the points below.
What makes a chair renter self-employed in HMRC’s eyes?
You set your own prices, keep your own client list, decide your own hours and days, can send a substitute, carry your own risk and insurance, and pay for the chair rather than being paid by the shop. A shop that fixes your rota and prices and pays you a cut is running employees.
Who owns the clients?
Whoever the agreement says. Put it in writing that clients you bring and clients who book you by name are yours, including their contact details, and that you may tell them where you move to. Shops sometimes ask for a non-solicitation clause on walk-ins the shop gave you; a short one is normal, a blanket one is not.
Can the shop raise the rent?
Only as the agreement allows. Fix the rent for six or twelve months, then a review with a month’s notice. An agreement with no rent clause lets the shop change it whenever it likes.
Is a chair rental agreement a lease?
Usually a licence to occupy, not a lease, which means you have no right to stay beyond the notice period. That is fine for a chair; it also means the notice period is the only protection you have, so get it in writing and keep it short both ways.