Commercial Property Solicitors in Essex

The options available to you will depend upon the contents of your lease but there are four main methods. The first method would be to exercise your break clause if you have one. The second method would be to try to reach an agreement with your landlord to allow you to surrender your lease early. However, they are under no obligation to do this, and you may be required to pay a premium in exchange for early surrender. The third method would be to assign or transfer your lease to a third party; usually this requires the priority and consent of your landlord. The fourth method would be to sublet your property to your own tenant. Again, usually this requires prior consent. There are pros and cons to each method and the best thing you can do is seek advice from a solicitor to confirm which methods are available to you.

The first thing to check is what are the dates in your break clause, when is your break date and how much notice do you need to give in advance. The second thing to check is the method of service, how do you need to serve that notice on your landlord. The third thing to check is, are there any conditions attached to the break, do you need to make any payments to the landlord, do you need to give vacant possession on the break date. There are likely to be a number of conditions which need to be satisfied so it’s important to seek legal advice well in advance before seeking to exercise your break.

When entering a new lease there are certain things that you need to consider when agreeing the lease terms. The first thing is the length of the lease, is the term of the lease suitable for you. You also need to consider the rent that’s payable, whether VAT is payable on the rent and any rent reviews. You may also be asked to pay a rent deposit to the landlord as security throughout the lease term. You need to consider the permitted use of the lease, are you able to use the premises for your business. You need to consider service charge payments, are they affordable, are they reasonable, and repair. What are your repair obligations under the lease; quite often commercial premises are fully repairing and that’s quite an onerous obligation on a tenant. Sometimes you may also wish to consider whether you can get out of the lease early, is there a break provision. If not, can you sell the lease or can you underlet it to somebody else.

A mechanism in the lease by which the rent as the name suggests is reviewed. Rent is usually reviewed on an upwards only basis which means that if no increase is agreed on review, then the rent will remain the same. Rent can be reviewed by reference to market rent, turnover rent, index link, or sometimes a combination of all of them. There is a trend towards trying to get downward rent reviews although most landlords are resistant to that because it could have an adverse effect on the property value.

Sections 24 to 28 of the landlord and tenant act, 1954, provide business tenants occupying premises for the purpose of their business with security of tenure rights. This essentially means that such tenants can simply hold over or remain in the premises at the end of their lease term, or they can seek a new lease from their landlord on substantially the same terms as the existing lease. There are exceptions, a landlord can refuse to grant a new lease to a tenant on one or more of the seven statutory grounds for a refusal and they include the tenant’s persistent non-payment of rent, or breach of other terms of the lease, or most commonly the landlord wanting to occupy the premises themselves or wishing to demolish the premises.