Paying landlord legal fees

LB96

I have recently been looking at moving to a business premises, I have gone through an estate agent. I have been informed by the estate agent that the landlord of the property wants me to pay 100% of their legal fees. I have also been made aware that the estate agent WILL NOT prepare the lease and therefore I am responsible for covering my own legal fees and preparation of the lease. Is this common? I haven't done this before and I am unsure whether this is normal with regards to renting commercial property. I dont want to proceed with this property until I have a clear idea of my rights as a tenant. Any help would be hugely appreciated! 
Thanks in advance 

Pennywise

Yes, it's common.  You are, of course, free to negotiate ALL terms, including rent, who is responsible for repairs/maintenance, initial rent free periods, break clauses, rent review clauses, who pays legal fees, etc.  If they are desperate to rent it to someone, you can offer anything you wish and leave it to them whether they wish to accept or not.

J_B

I would guess (?) that the demand for business premises was minimal at the moment. If so, then you are in a strong bargaining position.

The 'man in the pub' was telling me the other day that the tenant of the business premises that he owns has asked for a 25% discount for the current quarter ...... as his last tenant went bust, he was willing to agree!!

bris

Do your own deal by negotiating.
Depending on the desperation of the LL it's not uncommon to get them to pay your legal fees as well as their own. You can often get rent free periods and one thing is crucial, a break clause, make sure you at least get that or walk away.
Bottom line is how long has it been on the market, is it in high demand, don't just sign for it because the estate agent says you should.

Savvy_Sue

By all means do your own deal and negotiate, but whatever you do, sign nothing until you have got a solicitor with experience in the commercial property field to check the lease for you and point out any pitfalls you should be aware of. 

For example, if you agree to return the property fully re-decorated and re-carpeted, it would be wise to know that well in advance of ending the lease. 

MobileSaver

LB96 said:

I have been informed by the estate agent that the landlord of the property wants me to pay 100% of their legal fees. I am unsure whether this is normal with regards to renting commercial property.

Yes, this is completely normal in normal times however, of course, we are in far from normal times so you may/should be able to negotiate this part of the deal in your favour.

bris said:

You can often get rent free periods and one thing is crucial, a break clause, make sure you at least get that or walk away.

I cannot emphasise how correct bris is with this; depending on the length of the lease you absolutely must negotiate a break clause (validated by your solicitor) that allows you to walk away with minimal costs if things don't work out 12 or 24 months from now. If they won't agree to a decent break clause then walk away, there's unlikely to be a shortage of business premises available over the next 12 months!