Commercial Lease Advisory

Commercial Property Rent Review

Commercial property rent reviews and rent negotiations can seem impenetrable.  The longer you spend grappling with lease valuation, the more complex the subject seems to get. Understanding whether the deal on the table is good or bad can seem daunting but the answer is usually either easy (and cheap to answer) or hard and needs some serious expertise to unravel. Either way it doesn’t hurt to ask an expert.

Commercial leasing consultants’ have a detailed understanding of both rent review procedure and the commercial property market and can quickly help your business understand its rights and guide you through the rental negotiations to the completion of a rent review memorandum at a level we can show is justifiable.

Our rent review and lease advisory service combines thorough understanding of the commercial marketplace with an analytical approach to the evidence in relation to office, retail or industrial buildings, specification, location and lease terms.

A rent review is a good time to establish a dialogue between landlord and tenant on any mutually advantageous existing lease terms, including lease restructure such as inserting/deleting break options or extending the lease term.

Commercial Property Lease Renewal

Lease Renewal negotiations allow the landlord and tenant to review the rent upwards or downwards and vary the lease terms: a major distinction between a rent review and a lease expiry/lease end.

Few tenants under a commercial tenancy agreement have the automatic right to a lease renewal when the tenancy expires.  In those cases, an earlier start to rent negotiations by the tenant is vital (say 18 months earlier), to allow for the terms of the new tenancy agreement to be agreed before the lease expiry date.  If the decision is made to vacate then negotiating dilapidations and, where appropriate, terms on new premises and, where appropriate, terms will need to be completed.

Where the business tenant does have automatic rights to renew a lease agreement under the provisions of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 follows strict timetables which need to be understood and adhered to; a lease ‘protected’ under the Act can only be brought to an end by notice if the tenant remains in occupation and is intending on renewing a lease.  

The role of the lease advisor to either the landlord or tenant is vital to the lease renewal process: it can get tactical and there are a  number of ”trip hazards” to avoid . We advise on the timing for serving a Section 25 Notice (for the landlord) or Section 26 Notice (for the tenant) to bring the protected lease to an end, according to whether rental levels are anticipated to be rising or falling at the lease expiry.  Our commercial lease consultant will also advise on the critical timing of any counter notices that need to be served prior to entering into the negotiating process.

In instances of an unresolvable dispute, we will act as Expert Witness under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 court procedures and prepare a case for the best market terms either for attendance at a court hearing or in written report form.

Commercial Property Dilapidations

Dilapidations refers to the “exit costs” to the tenant of putting a property back into repair and potentially reinstating tenant’s alterations at the termination of a tenancy / lease. 

The cost to remedy the dilapidations can often cause dispute between landlords and tenants as the lifespan of leases becomes shorter.  Our commercial property dilapidations experts provide both landlords and tenants with dilapidation advice regarding valuation, timing, and legal issues that influence the level of dilapidations claims at lease / tenancy expiry.

We are experienced dilapidations negotiators with the specialist skill to ensure success.