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Having a physical store or office can be a great asset for your business. It allows you to have an established storefront for customers to visit or a settled office for your employees to work from. Unless your business wants to own property, you will likely enter into a commercial lease. This lease agreement will contain several rights and obligations you must comply with as a commercial tenant. If you are having difficulties understanding the terms of your contract, commercial property solicitors can give you expert legal advice. This article will explain how a property solicitor can assist you with your commercial lease in the UK.
The Property
When you enter a commercial lease, it will concern a specific property or part of a commercial property. Importantly, you must be clear about what areas of the property fall under your commercial lease. For example, do you only have access to one store or the whole floor in a building? Unfortunately, if you incur boundary problems as part of your commercial lease, they can be tricky to rectify and costly.
Use of Premises
As part of leasing a commercial space in the UK, you should consider what business activities you will conduct on the property and whether the commercial lease will permit this. For example, your lease agreement might only permit retail businesses to use the property, which would be very unhelpful if you were planning to open a cafe. Therefore, your property solicitor can help you understand the usage terms within your lease.
Furthermore, you will need to know whether you require planning permission for your business use or if additional consent from your landlord is necessary. A property solicitor can guide you regarding your lease terms to ensure you do not breach your agreement.
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Repair Obligations
A property solicitor can help you when you negotiate your repair obligations in a commercial lease agreement. Unfortunately, commercial landlords tend to want onerous repair obligations for their commercial tenants as it is in their interest to look after their property. For example, a repair obligation in your commercial lease could require you to leave the commercial promises in better condition than when you entered the commercial lease.
A property solicitor can help ensure that your repair obligations in your lease protect you in terms of the extent of these. For example, a property solicitor can help ensure that you include a schedule of conditions, so you do not need to ensure the property is in a better condition than when you first entered the lease.
Lease Review
While you might not engage a solicitor when you first negotiate a commercial lease, they can be useful if you want to review your final contract. A lease review is where a property solicitor looks through the draft lease agreement to ensure that there are no obligations that are material issues for you or are not market standard. They can also advise on areas that may not be legally correct and endeavour to have the lease protect your interests as much as it will inevitably protect the landlords.
Key Takeaways
A property solicitor can be very useful when entering into a lease on commercial premises in the UK. A property solicitor can help you negotiate your commercial lease to ensure it best protects your business. They can also ensure that the commercial property you wish to occupy caters to your business activity and can look through the draft lease agreement to ensure you understand the risks involved in entering into it.
If you need help understanding your commercial lease in the UK, 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 for a low monthly fee. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
A commercial lease is a contract between your business and a commercial landlord, where you occupy their property in return for rent.
Property solicitors can prove useful in many ways. They can negotiate your lease to best protect your business interests. They can also help explain key terms so you are aware of your obligations and do not unintentionally breach your lease. Property solicitors can also explain potential risks with the contract to help you make an informed decision about whether to enter into a lease.
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