What Are My Commercial Lease Responsibilities as a Tenant in the UK?

Suppose you are considering leasing premises for your business in England and Wales. In that case, you may wonder what you are responsible for as a tenant and what your commercial landlord’s responsibilities are. Your commercial lease will usually spell out your obligations. While you can potentially negotiate some terms, it is important to clearly understand what responsibilities sit with you as a tenant. In this article, we explain three key features of a commercial lease that you may be responsible for.

1. Health and Safety 

The property landlord must make sure that the business premises are safe, not only for you as a tenant but for anyone who enters the property. It is common for the landlord to pass some or all of this obligation onto you as the tenant. However, the landlord may still retain some responsibilities for health and safety concerns, particularly in the case of any communal areas of the property. 

Landlord’s Responsibilities

However, the landlord will be responsible for: 

• the fire and electrical safety of the building; and 
• ensuring appropriate lighting, temperature and ventilation for the whole premises.  

Your landlord will also be responsible for gas safety (if relevant) and the electrical safety of your premises. If the property you are leasing is connected to the gas, the landlord must arrange a gas safety inspection every year. In addition, they should carry out an electrical survey before the property is leased to you and then have another survey completed by a registered electrician every five years.

Likewise, if the landlord provides water to your property, it is generally their responsibility to ensure a safe water supply. Additionally, in the current climate, you may see provisions relating to making a building COVID-safe; this will include things like: 

• cleaning common areas; and 
• provisions relating to how a building is ventilated.

Asbestos is another issue that may be relevant to a property you intend to rent if it was built before 2000. If it is an older property, there is a legal requirement to ensure that anyone using that particular premises is protected from the risk that asbestos presents. Therefore, it is vital that this is covered within a lease where it is an older building. Again a landlord may seek to pass this responsibility on to you as a tenant.

2. Fixtures and Fittings

Fixtures and fittings are items attached to the property. As a rough guide, fixtures are hard to remove, like bathroom or kitchen facilities, electrical or heating systems, whereas fittings are easier to remove, for example, artwork.

Generally, you as a tenant will be responsible for the safe installation and maintenance of any fixtures and fittings which you provide. So, for example, if you rent an empty shop unit and arrange for the installation of product shelving to display your stock, you would be responsible for maintaining that shelving. However, your landlord would similarly be responsible for any fixtures and fittings they have provided to you.

3. Maintenance and Repair

Again, what your landlord will be responsible for in terms of maintenance and repair depends on what your lease says. It is common for a lease to pass many aspects of maintenance and repair to their tenant. Much like with a residential property, a landlord will often be responsible for repair and maintenance relating to the structure of a building as a whole. This would include things like issues affecting the: 

• roof; 
• exterior of a building; or 
• building’s foundations.

Key Takeaways

You must understand your landlord’s responsibilities in your lease since anything not included is likely to be considered your responsibility. A commercial landlord may seek to pass on many responsibilities to you as a tenant. Therefore, you must ensure that you are comfortable with the obligations included in any lease document before agreeing to it.

If you need help with negotiating your commercial lease in England and Wales and understanding your landlord’s responsibilities, our experienced leasing lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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