Leasing a business unit…. do I really need a solicitor?

[nicebloke]

Hey all,

We desperately need more space so am looking at renting a small industrial premises close by.

We need to move quick and I’ve looked over the draft lease in detail and it all looks very standard.

On the basis that the landlord isn’t going to want to move away from his ‘standard’ terms, and I’m happy with them anyway, do I really need to involve the cost and delay of a Solictor?

Has anyone ever bypassed this and signed the lease without involving their own legals? The pitfalls are obvious but having rented before and been in business 20+ years I kind of know the usual set up.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Plenty have done it, and some end up on here in a bit of a pickle - but many don't.

Ultimately the risk is yours to take I would say that the mist common fall over point seems to be dilapidation.

 

[thetiger2015]

Do you understand the lease document fully and the legal terms?

I've signed a lease for an office before without legal advice but it was super simple, lots of other small businesses in the same building, easy in easy out terms with 1 months notice etc.

 

[Gyumri]

Try a Google search:

what to look for when leasing a commercial property
There are many aspects to look at depending on your personal concerns and wishes - stamp duty for example, service charge which should be capped. Makes sure you define the common parts so you don't get charged for repairing the whole roof and even the landlord's car!

 

[MBE2017]

I wouldn’t consider taking out a lease without my solicitor checking it over. Mainly because I do not want to be responsible for possibly tens of thousands of pounds of repairs, the standard lease will be very much in the landlords favour.

Your choice though.

 

[WaveJumper]

Looking standard is one thing fully understanding what your committed to is another as mentioned above if it’s maybe part of a complex with one of these one page easy terms etc etc it may well be fairly straight forward on the other hand the forum is littered with those who rushed in signing leases they never fully understood

 

[MOIC]

do I really need to involve the cost and delay of a Solictor?

Why would a solicitor delay the signing of the lease (other than a week or so), unless he felt there are points that need to be raised?

If your concern is their fee, it's probably false economy.

The fact that you've put this out on a forum suggests you're not 100% sure to go it alone.

 

[kulture]

No-one here will suggest that you do without a solicitor. As has been said, if it is a simple lease, that you completely understand, then why not sit down with a solicitor and go through it with them.

If it is simple then it should not take too long.

I have never heard of a landlord not willing to amend a lease if there is a good reason. Have you asked any of the existing tenants what their solicitors said and recommended change?

At the end it is your commercial risk, so only you can decide

 

[studioJK]

Hi @nicebloke

Leases are often quite complicated (due to a mixture of legislation and common law issues). As commented above, it is a commercial risk if you don't want to get a specialist to look over it. A good commercial lease solicitor would potentially be able to save you quite a lot down the line, if things do go wrong in future.

If your concern is about speed, your solicitor should be able to work with your deadlines (though that does usually mean that there would be higher costs).

If your concern is that you might potentially lose out on the premises, have you considered entering into heads of terms, which contain an exclusivity agreement?

 

[OfficeHope]

Do you understand the lease document fully and the legal terms?

I've signed a lease for an office before without legal advice but it was super simple, lots of other small businesses in the same building, easy in easy out terms with 1 months notice etc.

I'm in a pickle over such an agreement right now. Or at least it seems like a similar contract. One where the landlord can shut the tenant down at any time with 4 weeks minimum notice, no reason needed. Apparently it's way more nuanced than l could have imagined, especially given the LL's questionable deeds. Things can go wrong fast with such agreements, if we are indeed thinking of the same type of agreement ...

 

[The Byre]

There are externalities to a commercial lease that most LLs and tenants are unaware of - until they come up from between the floorboards to bite them! By externalities, I mean aspects of common and statute law that are NOT in the lease itself.

A typical example is to be found in Scottish law and the doctrine of tacit relocation. This also applies in many other jurisdictions and is a wonderful gotcha that, when explained to the affected party, causes the colour to drain from their faces and their mouths to open and shut like gaffed salmon.

As @kulture said, it's your risk to take!

 

[paulears]

There's a topic at the moment where somebody signed an easy in and easy out contract and then the landlord asked them to leave, and he's trying to work out what he can do - and I bet he wished he'd run it past a solicitor! Sign what you like and live in the knowledge that hopefully, all will be well - until it isn't!

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Pay a solicitor a couple of hundred quid to review the lease and see what they say. If they come up with a long list of issues, you can then make a call on whether to accept it as is or try to change it.

You have a reasonable chance that there will be little or no issues, however, if you do not get it checked you could end up losing a lot of money or even your business!