Commercial lease

alison82

Hi,

this is my first post, hoping you can help.

I have found a property that I would like to rent for my business but have been told that it will cost around £300 + vat to get a solicitor to check over the 12 page lease. I have checked with a few solicitors and this seems to be the average price.

Has anyone else went ahead and rented without using a solicitor?

I have been told by the company who owns the property that I will only require a photographic record of the condition of the property as well.

If anyone can give me some advice, that would be great. I am only starting out and it would be good to find out what others think

luminated

12 pages for a lease is extremely short so my feeling is 'what has been omitted' and it is often the omissions in a document that are something to watch out for and not just what is written.

£300 doesn't sound bad and even though no one wants to spend if it can be avoided.

I would spend it.

am

Get legal help.

paddyrg

If you can't afford £300, you can't afford the lease. There are all sorts of 'gotchas' with agreements, you need someone who knows how commercial property works to spot them and fight your corner. Never trust anyone who says it is 'just a standard contract', get your own legal representative to read and advise.

This could be the cheapest £300 you'll ever spend if they save you from getting locked into a 20-yr lease with no break clauses and a random number increase as the freeholder sees fit (for instance!)

s_b

you also need to take photos of everything before you move in so the landlords dont hit you for a full repair and repaint when you leave which happens often even though everything is the same if not better
find out who insures the building too
also as said madness to take on a lease without legal help
i strongly suggest you go limited company too

chalkie99

alison82 wrote: »

12 page lease.

I could fit an awful lot of legal jargon and clauses into 12 pages.


Has anyone else went ahead and rented without using a solicitor?

Yes - You will probably find them over on the Bankruptcy board now.

I have been told by the company who owns the property that I will only require a photographic record of the condition of the property as well.

So it sounds like you will be responsible for the condition of the property and will be expected to keep it and leave it in good condition. Perfectly normal requirement but if you sign up to this you are laying yourself open to huge building repair costs.

A solicitor certainly needs to check this and advise you. However, you almost certainly need a full structural survey report in addition to the solicitor. that will be expensive.

If anyone can give me some advice, that would be great. I am only starting out and it would be good to find out what others think

Agree with above comment about you worrying over £300. it does sound as though you may be seriously underestimating your realistic start up costs.

ukbill69

You can get commercial solicitor to go over it and tell you what's wrong for like £100.

daveyjp

luminated wrote: »

12 pages for a lease is extremely short so my feeling is 'what has been omitted' and it is often the omissions in a document that are something to watch out for and not just what is written.

£300 doesn't sound bad and even though no one wants to spend if it can be avoided.

I would spend it.

12 pages is quite possible if the lease is for a short period and excludes plenty of scenarios by simply not allowing them, e.g. Assignment or underletting.

Still worth getting it checked out, but beware the solicitor who rewrites the whole thing to match their model lease. Costs will rise.

CKhalvashi

alison82 wrote: »

Hi,

this is my first post, hoping you can help.

I have found a property that I would like to rent for my business but have been told that it will cost around £300 + vat to get a solicitor to check over the 12 page lease. I have checked with a few solicitors and this seems to be the average price.

Has anyone else went ahead and rented without using a solicitor?

I have been told by the company who owns the property that I will only require a photographic record of the condition of the property as well.

If anyone can give me some advice, that would be great. I am only starting out and it would be good to find out what others think

12 pages is short in comparison to several of the leases that we hold (and this is taking out various scenarios we have to put up with).

I’d say that you’re looking at around double this, and my personal advice would be to pay the £300 for this to be looked into. If you can’t afford this, you can’t afford the lease.

CK

ukbill69

Most companies and solicitors use a standard lease template from The Law Society and as my understanding is like 20-30 pages long and will include any extras the company leasing the property might ask for. My top advice is get a solicitor to look over it.

brightonman123

check what is / is not included, in any service charge - most likely the building insurance, that landlord must have, but recharges to lessee.. you might be able to get lower premium, though they may not be obliged to accept it (commission is very good for this!).

also, any repairs, or 'major works' due? - roof, drains, redecs of the building exterior etc..

If a charity, i think you MIGHT get exemption on the VAT of any bills.. best get proper advise. £300 now may save £000's later!