Lease Reassignment - how long should this take a solicitor to complete?

Indigo1310

I agreed to take on a commercial lease for a retail premises from an existing tenant who was looking to reassign.

I accepted the terms in mid-june, made a payment of half a months rent to the current tenant as security and was told to expect the lease to sign in a few weeks and to begin paying the Landlord direct from the beginning of July.

I have still not been provided with a lease to sign, despite paying for the premises in full and chasing it up every month. In the absence of a lease to read and confirm my acceptance of, and absence of my formal permission to trade from the premises I have been unable to open my business.

Is this normal procedure, should it really have taken this long? Am I likely to be able to claim back any of the rent I have paid to the previous tenants on the grounds of having been unable to have full use of the premises as a retail unit?

Thank you!

Savvy_Sue

Is this the landlord's solicitor taking his time? What does YOUR solicitor say? You do have one, I hope, who specialises in commercial property.