Shop owner at the till of a garden centre

Practice areas/Business and property

Commercial leases.

A commercial lease is the biggest financial commitment most small businesses make after payroll, and the one they read least. We act for tenants taking a shop, office or unit, and for landlords letting one. The document is negotiable. Most of the pain later comes from clauses nobody pushed back on.

Talk to us before you sign↗ Read the lease guide↗

At a glance

Typical termFive to ten years, often with a break

Rent reviewUsually every five years, upwards only is now banned

Stamp dutyPayable by the tenant on the rent and any premium

Who we act forLandlords and tenants

A lease of more than five years may give the tenant a statutory right to renew unless it is properly renounced. Both sides need to know that before signing.

What we look at

The clauses that decide what the lease really costs.

Rent is the number everyone negotiates. These are the ones that decide whether the deal is actually good.

Term and break clause

How long you are tied in, and whether you can leave early. A break clause is only useful if the conditions attached to it are ones you can actually meet.

Rent review

When, how and on what basis. Since 2010 a review cannot be upwards only, but the mechanism still matters. Open market, index linked or fixed.

Repairs and dilapidations

A full repairing lease makes the tenant responsible for the state of the building, including what was wrong when you moved in. A schedule of condition at the start fixes that.

Assignment and subletting

Whether you can hand the lease to a buyer of your business, and what consent the landlord can withhold. This decides whether the business is sellable.

Service charge and insurance

What the landlord recovers on top of the rent, how it is calculated, and whether there is a cap. Ask for the last three years' accounts.

Renewal rights

After five years a tenant may have a right to a new lease under the Landlord and Tenant Acts. Landlords usually ask for a deed of renunciation. It needs independent advice to be valid.

Common questions

The things people ring us about first.

Can I negotiate the landlord's standard lease

Yes. There is no standard. The first draft favours the landlord because the landlord's solicitor wrote it. Everything in it is a starting point.

What is a deed of renunciation

A document where the tenant gives up the statutory right to renew the lease. It is only valid if the tenant had independent legal advice, which is why we are involved.

What are dilapidations

The cost of putting the premises back into the condition the lease requires when you leave. Without a schedule of condition this can be a very large surprise.

Who pays stamp duty

The tenant. One per cent of the average annual rent for leases up to 35 years, plus duty on any premium. We file the return.

Do I need a survey

For a full repairing lease, yes. Otherwise you may be taking on the roof, the wiring and the drains as they stand.

Bring this to a first meeting

The heads of terms or agent's letter, the draft lease if you have it, and a note of the rent, term and what you plan to do with the premises.

Make an appointment

Before you ring

Two things you can check tonight.

Guide