Lease dispute

[Dquinn91]

Hi all,

Looking for some advice before I go to the solicitor. I have signed a lease with 2 other individuals. The agreement was that we were responsible to build the property as outlined on the agreement. The landlord has now changed the outline of the the property. I have emailed confronting him about this, along with numerous hygiene issues that have yet to be resolved.
He claims that he has not broken the lease, and I am simply ignorant of commercial property laws.
Am I wrong here?
Thank you.

 

[STDFR33]

Possibly. Possibly not.

Someone with knowledge and experience of dealing with leases needs to see sight of the lease.

 

[deniser]

This sounds strange. You have taken a lease of an empty plot and agreed to erect a brand new building on it?

 

[Dquinn91]

This sounds strange. You have taken a lease of an empty plot and agreed to erect a brand new building on it?

Hi there,

No, the building is an ex submarine hangar, we are to build a sort of partition, to divvy off our space.

 

[fisicx]

He claims that he has not broken the lease

What does it say in the lease?

 

[Dquinn91]

What does it say in the lease?

It says how we are to build what he has laid out, shown in an image provided to us. When we went to build, we were told to build something different to the plan.

 

[Mr D]

It says how we are to build what he has laid out, shown in an image provided to us. When we went to build, we were told to build something different to the plan.

And the contract has not been changed to reflect that?

 

[Dquinn91]

And the contract has not been changed to reflect that?

No it hasn't.

 

[kulture]

See your solicitor . Commercial leases are complex and can be tricky. You have no rights other than what is written in the lease and you may have nasty obligations also written into the lease. There is no such thing as a standard lease either. For all we know there may be a paragraph in the lease demanding you return the building to its original state when you leave. It may be that the building changes the landlord is requesting may make this harder or more expensive. You need proper legal advice from a professional who can read the whole lease. Anything less is dangerous.

 

[obscure]

See your solicitor . Commercial leases are complex and can be tricky. You have no rights other than what is written in the lease and you may have nasty obligations also written into the lease. There is no such thing as a standard lease either. For all we know there may be a paragraph in the lease demanding you return the building to its original state when you leave. It may be that the building changes the landlord is requesting may make this harder or more expensive. You need proper legal advice from a professional who can read the whole lease. Anything less is dangerous.

+1 to this ^^

 

[Michael Haber]

How have they requested you to build this partition differently?

 

[deniser]

Without reading the document, we can't really comment.
If the lease is signed, clear plans are attached and the wording is unequivocal then the landlord can't really argue it.
Does this affect the footprint of your demise or are the changes to do with materials, construction methods etc?
The other thing is that it would be unusual to include provisions like this in a lease. Are you sure it isn't an agreement to lease that you have signed?