Taking on a commercial lease can involve huge commitments in terms of how much a business owner will have to pay, as well as the length of the agreement. Once you have found the right property for your needs the sensible choice is to instruct an experienced commercial property lawyer to guide you through the potential pitfalls of dealing with the landlord and his agents, and to ensure you get the best possible deal for your business.
Things to look out for:
Will you have security of tenure? In other words, will you be able to apply for a new lease at the end of the term? Without this, you may find yourself having to look for an alternative property and pay significant costs to re-locate your business.
Ensure the lease has a break clause inserted. This will enable you to end the lease early should your business need to vacate the premises, but without incurring any penalty.
When a new lease is drafted by the landlord’s representative, rent review mechanisms are often biased in the landlord’s favour. Failure to check this may result in paying above the market rate for your property.
You may want flexibility in the terms of the lease to allow you to assign the property to another party should you need to move out. Or you may want the option of sub-letting part of the property to another business.
Leases drafted in favour of the landlord can often lead to unexpected costs for items such as insurance, repairs and service charges.
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