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Three Questions to Ask a Commercial Real Estate Solicitor

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You will likely engage a solicitor when you decide to lease a commercial property on your business premises. The correct type of lawyer to use is a commercial real estate solicitor. They specialise in property law and can assist you correctly when you enter a commercial lease. In addition to many vital questions you will want to ask about your specific lease agreement, there may be questions you have at the outset when you engage the property solicitor. Leasing commercial premises means entering a legally binding contract, so getting a good solicitor to help you with it is essential. This article will consider three questions to ask a commercial real estate solicitor.

Commercial Real Estate Solicitor

A commercial real estate solicitor is a lawyer who specialises in many commercial property issues across a range of different commercial property types, such as:

  • hotels and leisure;
  • offices and business space;
  • retail space; and
  • industrial and logistics.

Typical Tasks

In the UK, they are alternatively known as commercial property solicitors. This type of lawyer can perform the following tasks: 

  • check your lease documentation;
  • advise you on what to put in your heads of terms, and 
  • carry out due diligence on the property, such as checking property title and carrying out property searches.

Commercial real estate lawyers also have a range of client types like domestic clients such as yourself and international clients.   

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Key Questions to Ask

When deciding to lease a commercial property, you may have many questions for your real estate solicitor. We will explore some useful questions to ask below, so you obtain full and useful advice.

1. What Experience Do You Have in Commercial Real Estate?

Many property solicitors offer services in the UK, which you may choose for your commercial lease legal issues. However, some will have more experience than others, and each may specialise in particular lease issues. 

You want to be sure that the commercial real estate solicitor you choose can best assist your legal needs.  In addition, you should check that your real estate solicitor is qualified to carry out the job; a commercial lease agreement is legally binding, so you must ensure you comply with it. 

2. What Are Your Fees?

As a business owner, you need to budget for your business costs, which means you need to be able to predict what these might be. Therefore, when you need a commercial real estate solicitor to help you, you should ask about the costs. 

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Costs may vary between solicitor firms; some charge an hourly rate and others a fixed fee. As a business owner, a fixed price may be better for you. This can give you a more unambiguous indication of the cost you will incur.

However, an hourly rate may suffice if the property solicitor tells you approximately how long they may spend on your lease issues. 

3. What Property Type Can I Lease For My Business?

When you use the service of a commercial property solicitor, you are likely to be about to enter a commercial lease. If so, a question to ask them is the type of property you can lease for your business.  Different commercial buildings have various legal conditions attached to them. 

For example, you may need to change your commercial property lease, but it may need planning permissions. Also, commercial premises will usually have usage terms attached to them. This indicates the business activity that you can carry out on the premises. Your commercial lease agreement will detail these, and your commercial real estate solicitor can advise on these.

Key Takeaways

A commercial real estate solicitor specialises in commercial property transactions and can help you with your commercial lease. For example, they can help with due diligence, such as conducting property searches. 

To ensure you obtain tailored and useful advice, there are key questions to ask your solicitor. The first is to check the property solicitor’s experience and specialism in property law. The second question is to ask them about their fees in advance of the work starting. The final question is to ask your commercial real estate solicitor about the property type you are able to lease. 

If you need help with your commercial lease, LegalVision’s experienced leasing lawyers 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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Clare Farmer

Clare Farmer

Clare has a postgraduate diploma in law and writes on a range of subjects and in a variety of genres. Clare has worked for the UK central government in policy and communication roles. She has also run her own businesses where she founded a magazine and was editor-in-chief. She is currently studying part-time towards a PhD predominantly in international public law.

Qualifications: PhD, Human Rights Law (underway), University of Bedfordshire, Post graduate diploma, Law, Middlesex University.

Read all articles by Clare

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