Commercial Property Solicitors in Essex
Commercial property matters often involve significant financial commitment, long-term risk, and tight timescales. Whether you are acquiring, leasing, refinancing, or disposing of property, clear legal advice helps protect your position and avoid costly problems later. Our commercial property solicitors support businesses across Essex with calm, practical guidance at every stage.
Are you making important decisions about commercial property?
Commercial property transactions can feel pressured and complex, particularly when deadlines, funding arrangements, or third parties are involved. You may be balancing commercial objectives against legal risk, while trying to keep matters moving. We help clients understand their position clearly, anticipate issues early, and make informed decisions without unnecessary complication.
Understanding legal risks before committing to a purchase or lease.
Managing tight deadlines imposed by lenders or counterparties.
Ensuring lease terms reflect commercial reality.
Avoiding unexpected liabilities after completion
Keeping transactions proportionate and on track.
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Commercial Property Services
We advise on a wide range of commercial property matters, supporting clients from initial negotiation through to completion and beyond.
We act for both borrowers and lenders on commercial property finance, handling title checks, searches, lender requirements and registrations. Our role is to keep the transaction moving while ensuring funding arrangements are properly secured and clearly understood.
If a lease is running down, extending it can protect value and future saleability. We advise on eligibility, process and timing, helping you understand how a lease extension affects your property, mortgage options and long-term position.
We support landowners and developers throughout the development process, from site acquisition through to delivery. Our advice focuses on managing legal risk, coordinating with other professionals and ensuring documentation supports the commercial objectives of the scheme.
Whether acting for landlord or tenant, we prepare and negotiate commercial leases that reflect the agreed deal. Our focus is on clarity, risk allocation and ensuring you understand the obligations you are taking on before committing.
We advise leaseholders and freeholders on collective enfranchisement, guiding clients through the statutory process of acquiring the freehold. Our role is to manage complexity, coordinate valuation issues and progress matters efficiently.
We act on the sale and purchase of freehold and leasehold property, including mixed-use buildings. Transactions often involve layered obligations, consents and guarantees, and we help ensure these are identified early and dealt with properly.
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Why choose Mullis & Peake
Commercial property decisions require judgement as much as legal knowledge. Our approach is measured and collaborative, helping clients move forward with confidence rather than uncertainty.
Experienced advisers acting for businesses across sectors
Clear communication without unnecessary legal jargon
Proportionate advice focused on cost and risk control
A responsive team familiar with the Essex property market
Frequently asked questions
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.
Speak to our Commercial Property team
If you are dealing with a commercial property matter and would value clear, steady advice, our team is here to help. An initial conversation can help clarify your position and next steps.
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