Commercial leases can be a minefield to re-negotiate, however, any business usually needs to maintain a suitable workspace for operations. It’s not always an easy matter to relocate your business, particularly at short notice. This means that if the commercial lease agreement for your business premises is coming to an end, you will need to start planning for renewal.
Find Out If You’re Covered Under The Landlord & Tenant Act 1954
Many commercial lease agreements offer the security of tenure to tenants, under the terms of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. This is one aspect of your existing lease that you will need to find out about straight away if you want to remain in your existing premises.
How Does It Work For Secure Tenancies?
If you do have secure tenancy rights in place, your landlord will probably be unable to prevent you from renewing your lease. This means you can trigger the issue of a new lease by issuing statutory renewal procedures prior to the lease expiry. If your landlord fails to act, you will be entitled to remain within the premises and all current terms of the lease will apply.
Landlords can also issue statutory renewal procedures at the time leases are coming to an end.
Can My Commercial Landlord End The Tenancy?
It’s also possible for a property landlord to challenge a tenant’s rights to renew a commercial lease. However, they can only do so if they are able to prove statutory grounds for denial of the lease. For example, a landlord could be planning to take up the occupation of the premises or to demolish the property and redevelop. Any evidence of a tenant breaching the terms of the existing lease can also be grounds for the landlord to dispute lease renewals.
How Do I Renew My Lease
You should ensure any commercial lease agreement renewals are commenced at the earliest date, ideally 12 to 24 months prior to the expiry of the lease.
If you want to renew a commercial lease agreement, you will need to initiate the process by serving the landlord with a request for a new lease. This request should lay out the date for the start of the new lease, which may be the day following the expiry of the existing lease. The proposed date could also be months or even years after this date.
You should give a minimum of six to 12 months’ notice to your landlord and state your proposals for the terms of the new lease. This will include your rent proposal and the length of time you want your new lease to run. If you want to add conditions, like a break clause, you should make this clear.
Bowsers Solicitors specialise in assisting tenants to renew lease agreements under the most preferential terms. Get in touch for more details.