Fitness studio and council question

wozzza72

Hi
My other half runs a fitness studio as a 'sole trader', she rents the studio from a guy who uses it for his martial arts classes business and they basically share the space as it works out they don't use it at the same time. The studio is in a 5 story building with a 'one stop' mini mart on the ground floor, studio on second and student flats on the next floors. Now this is where it gets a little confusing. She rents on a monthly basis from the martial arts guy, he in turn rents off another guy who in turn we believe rents of the owner of the building. We have no lease etc, its a verbal agreement. I have no idea further up the chain if there is any documented lease but the MA guy has been doing his business from there for 3 or 4 years so it seems quite secure. My question is, can my other half run the fitness studio from a place like this as I know commercial properties have to have a building usage grades eg D2 for a gym etc. If the council paid her a visit, would the usage be an issue and is she be liable for business rates?

Thanks

Sandtree

Who currently pays the business rates? Are other bills shared or are you paying an all in price?

davelewis

It could be that she has a 'Licence' to occupy and trade from the premises and not a 'Lease'. Only the freeholder or leaseholder is liable for business rates. She would need a full business lease not a verbal agreement.

wozzza72

No license just a verbal agreement to pay the rent each month which is an all in cost. I have no idea who pays the business rates which is why it made me wonder about this whole thing. Everything is vague and we don't want any unexpected issues from the council. 

Savvy_Sue

As long as your agreements are vague, you run the risk of unexpected issues from somewhere. 

If you want to be clear, you need everything in writing. 

If you push for everything in writing and find there's a reluctance to supply this, there's likely to be a reason, and those reasons are just the kind of thing which leads to unexpected issues.