Four Key Reasons to Use a Solicitor to Write Your Commercial Property Lease Agreement in the UK 

When you enter a new lease, it is not essential that you use a commercial lease solicitor for this and neither is it a legal requirement. However, it would help if you did, particularly for the purpose of the creation of the commercial lease agreement. This is a legally binding contract that details the terms and conditions of the lease, and both a business tenant and landlord must adhere to it. It is, therefore, crucial that you have a robust and protective lease agreement. This article will explain four key reasons to use a solicitor to write your commercial property lease agreement in the UK.

1) Clarity of the Terms and Conditions

A key reason to use a property lawyer to write your commercial lease agreement is to ensure you are clear on all the terms and conditions. A commercial lease agreement is a binding legal contract, so you must understand what you agree to. A property solicitor will know the key terms you need for your specific lease and those for your circumstances. The language in the commercial lease may seem complicated, but at least by having a solicitor draft it, they can explain each to you in detail before you enter the lease. 

2) Lawyer Has Expertise in This Area

An essential reason to use a solicitor to write your commercial lease agreement is because they have the expertise to do so. Whilst this may sound like an obvious reason, it is a significant one in terms of the benefits that come with this. 

Using a property lawyer to write your commercial lease agreement makes sense as they understand property law and other areas of law that affect a commercial lease. Property law can change, and unless you have experience in this area of law, you are unlikely to know the recent changes that could affect how you draft a commercial lease. Using a lease agreement template may not reflect these changes.

Property lawyers also have expertise in terms of their personal experience in drafting lease agreements. This means they know potential lease problems that could occur. Knowing this means they can draft the commercial lease in such a manner as to cover and account for these. The last thing either a commercial landlord or tenant wants to have to deal with when part of a commercial lease is a lease dispute. 

3) Commercial Tenants’ Best Interests to Engage a Solicitor  

If you are a commercial tenant entering a lease for new business space, there is a key reason why you should use a solicitor to write your lease agreement. You as a commercial tenant, usually incur the cost of a solicitor drafting the lease agreement. Therefore, if you are the party who pays for the lease drafting, it makes sense that you will insist a solicitor draft this. 

While this may mean costs increase, it is money well spent and you can have peace of mind that the lease agreement is created carefully. The last thing you will want to pay for is someone to draft a lease agreement, which does not offer you the correct legal protection for your business premises.

4) Risk to Business by Not Using a Lawyer 

Whether you are a commercial tenant or landlord entering a lease, you do so usually as a business. A tenant certainly will as they enter the lease in order to provide business premises for their company. As a commercial landlord with property, it is likely this is part of your business, or at least you treat the property as a major source of income and an asset. Therefore, a key reason to use a solicitor to write your commercial lease is to protect your business. 

As a commercial tenant, if you enter a lease with a poorly written lease agreement, you could put your business at risk. The rent for your commercial premises will likely be a significant part of your business outgoings. If, for example, you find you cannot meet this anymore, getting a commercial lawyer to write the lease, means they may have thought they have to protect you with a helpful break clause. This can allow you to terminate the lease term early. 

If you are a landlord entering a commercial lease, if a property solicitor drafts the lease agreement, they will consider clauses to protect you and your property as your business income. For example, they may suggest a rent review clause in the lease to allow you to raise the rent from time to time within the lease term. 

Cheat Sheet for Leasing Terms

This cheat sheet outlines what you should be aware of in your lease agreement.

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Key Takeaways

When you enter a commercial lease, you will sign a lease agreement. This is a contract that binds a commercial landlord and tenant to the terms of the lease. It is helpful to get a property solicitor to draft the lease agreement. This article has explained four key reasons why this is.

The article explains that if you use a commercial solicitor, they can clarify the lease terms. It also explains that a property lawyer has the relevant legal expertise and knowledge experience for lease drafting. A third reason you may want to use a solicitor to draft your lease agreement as a tenant is that you likely pay the cost for the lease agreement, so it is worth ensuring you pay a solicitor who knows what they are doing. The final key reason why you may want to use a solicitor to draft your commercial lease is that they will reduce the risk to your business by protecting you in the commercial lease. 

If you would like a qualified solicitor to prepare a commercial property lease agreement for you, contact our experienced leasing lawyers 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.