Lettings lawyers in London & Thames Valley
Commercial Leases
Whether you are a landlord or a tenant, dealing with commercial property leases can involve a range of complex legal and practical considerations. From negotiating heads of terms to completion on a commercial lease, it is essential to have expert legal guidance to ensure a smooth and efficient process and a trouble-free occupation throughout a lease term.
Our highly experienced commercial property lawyers offer clear, commercially focused advice to help you navigate every stage of a commercial lease transaction. Our team has years of expertise in assisting landlords and tenants and extensive experience in negotiating commercial leases for a diverse range of premises, from office or industrial units through to assisting with complex retail estate management.
We ensure that we understand your business objectives, whether we assist with a lease of a single unit or managing a multi property portfolio, we tailor our advice to ensure that your position is protected during the property occupancy as well as when the lease term ends by ensuring that any liability for disrepair is adequately balanced.
Our Commercial Letting Legal Services
Our team provides a full range of legal services relating to commercial lettings, including:
- Drafting and negotiating leases
- Assisting with lease renewals and terminations
- Assisting with lease assignments, subletting and alterations
- Advising on heads of terms
- Assisting with dispute resolution and enforcement
Our Expertise in Commercial Property Lettings
Our commercial real estate team is experienced in advising on lettings across a wide range of sectors. We act for both landlords and tenants and are particularly experienced in managing and letting properties within business parks, shopping centres, and mixed-use developments.
We also have extensive expertise in the retail, leisure, and restaurant sectors, as well as advising on public sector property projects, especially in healthcare and education.
With a pragmatic and proactive approach, we help you achieve your commercial goals, working closely with our highly regarded litigation team should the need arise.
“They are knowledgeable, friendly, efficient and a pleasure to work with.”
Chambers and Partners
FAQs- Lettings
When a lease is outside the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, it means the lease is granted without security of tenure. Security of tenure means the tenant has an automatic right to renew a lease when it expires, on similar terms but at market rent, unless the landlord is able to regain access of the property by exercising certain statutory grounds and stop a new lease being granted. When a lease is outside this Act, the automatic right to renew the lease is lost and the tenancy will either terminate on expiry, or a new lease will need to be negotiated.
The lease terms will determine the extent of your repairing liability, so thorough negotiation and drafting is required to limit these as far as possible. One specific solution might be to attach a photographic schedule of condition, documenting the state of the property at the time the lease was granted. Appropriate wording in the lease can then limit your repairing obligations, so that you do not need to keep the property in a better state and condition than evidenced by the schedule of condition.
Possibly. Rental income can be exempt from VAT, but there are complex rules governing when VAT is chargeable or not. Many landlords voluntarily opt to tax their commercial buildings which would usually mean that VAT would be payable on rent. We would advise seeking specialist tax advice, if necessary.
There are a few options. You could agree to surrender the lease with your landlord or otherwise seek to vary your lease to shorten the term or add in an early break right. Unfortunately, the landlord would need to agree to these resolutions otherwise you are tied into your lease until it terminates.
