Business Lease
BUSINESS LEASE SOLICITORS WEST LONDON
We advise on the key issues which landlords and tenants need to consider before entering into a business property lease including
- Negotiating terms of the lease
- Drafting the lease
- Commercial considerations of length of lease and rent review strategies
- Relevance of break clauses and conditional break clauses
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
Tenant
The first key element we consider is planning issues. The tenant should check with the local authority of the property and the landlord as to whether his proposed, and any future considerations of use, are lawful and permissible.
If the tenant is unsure of any alternative business ventures he may decide to pursue at a later date then he should find out what is not permitted on the property and consider the likelihood of wanting to pursue this venture in the future. For example a car manufacturer may not consider that he might want a spare parts area, but a few years later due to a number of requests being made for this sort of equipment he may decide that he does need such a space. It is also worth keeping in mind that the tenant may want to hand over the lease to someone else wanting the property for a different use.
The landlord’s solicitor may decide to amend the rent review clause to try and increase the amount due if the tenant decides to change the property’s use. This is not always an advisable strategy since if the lease is subject to the Open Market Rent review which takes place every few years, this will raise the rent price significantly if the tenant has free reign on use of property.
If the lease is governed by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, which if the lease lasts longer than 6 months is likely to be, the tenant will have a right to continue using the property under the same terms of the contract as long as neither party objects under specified grounds.
Landlords
As well as the advice given above we represent landlords in issues specific to their interests. This includes helping negotiating leases and assisting with rent reviews and chasing non payment of rent.
Stamp duty
The rate of stamp duty is calculated as a percentage of the average rent for the term. If your lease lasts less than 7 years and the rent paid is less than £5,000 then no stamp duty will be payable.