Commercial Property and You

Our approach to commercial property work is to firstly learn more about you and your business. We can tailor a bespoke approach and our legal advice to you and your business. Our clients range from large scale property developers at one end of the spectrum to individuals and small businesses requiring short term leases at the other.

We have over 20 years of experience in commercial property matters, assisting our clients with leases, lease extensions, commercial acquisitions and disposals. You can call upon our experience and knowledge at this time.

We have read in recent reports that the forfeiture of leases has seen a sharp increase in the past few weeks.

Protection from Forfeiture

As part of the Government’s comprehensive and unprecedented package of financial assistance, business tenants occupying commercial properties now receive protection from forfeiture thanks to the Coronavirus Act 2020. However, be aware this protection does not extinguish the liability, nor does it waive forfeiture as a remedy in the future once the pandemic is over.

Protection from forfeiture under the new act is time limited. If you are a tenant that has not paid this quarters rent due on 25 March you are safe, but only until 30 June 2020 unless the Government extends the date. The landlord’s right to forfeit for non-payment of rent does not ordinarily crystallise until at least 14 days after the rent is due (review your lease terms to confirm this). This legislation will afford no protection should tenants decide not to pay the quarters rent due in June 2020.

However, should a tenant seek to take unfair advantage of the protection afforded by the new Act, and they can still afford to pay the rent in full on a quarterly basis, landlords can still sue for non-payment, claim interest on unpaid rent and initiate the statutory processes to have tenants wound up. Therefore, if you can pay your rent, you should.

How can we help you

If you are experiencing a reduction in turnover, we can negotiate with your landlord or tenant on your behalf. Alternatively, we can discuss with you a plan for you to contact your landlord or tenant to form the basis of your negotiations. We can then assist you with preparing the legal documentation protecting this agreement, such as:

A Deed of Variation to vary the terms an existing Lease
A Deed of Surrender of a Lease
Assist with the Grant of a new Lease

We are also experienced in advising you on short term leases, an example from this week was one of our clients, a small care home developer agreed a short-term lease with the local authority for the full use of its facility during the pandemic.

Our areas of expertise include

  • Purchase of a Commercial Property/Lease back (including SIPP and SASS purchases).
  • Investor Purchases.
  • Commercial Property Conveyancing.
  • Land/Building Purchase & Development.
  • Commercial Leases and Lease Extensions
  • Commercial Acquisition.
  • Commercial Finance/Refinancing.
  • Commercial and Residential Developments.

We hope that we can help you during these difficult times and for a free initial telephone appointment, please contact our commercial property director Lee Gaddes on our office telephone number 01484 451066 or by email lee@gaddesnoble.co.uk.