LeaseAssured Explains When a Small Business Should Involve a Commercial Lease Solicitor

A business can spend weeks choosing premises before asking a solicitor to look at the lease. By then, the opening date may be announced, contractors booked and the budget built around a deal that still needs careful examination.

LeaseAssured encourages businesses to consider legal input while the terms are being discussed. For a shop, office, studio or warehouse in England and Wales, the questions that matter often emerge before the first draft arrives: can the premises accommodate the intended operation, what will the tenant have to maintain, and how much flexibility will the business have if circumstances change?

The right point to involve a commercial lease solicitor is when those questions start shaping the decision to take the premises.

Start while the deal can still be shaped

Heads of terms record the main points of the proposed letting. They give the parties an opportunity to discuss more than rent and the length of the lease.

A business might need a break option, permission for a particular fit-out or clear arrangements for access and deliveries. Identifying those needs early gives the landlord and prospective tenant time to consider them before the drafting is advanced.

For example, a retailer planning a new shopfront and air-conditioning should raise both proposals during discussions about the premises. If the works need consent, the process and likely timing can then be explored alongside the commercial deal.

Businesses should describe what they intend to do in practical terms. A solicitor can assess the documents more usefully when they understand how the premises will operate.

Understand the cost of taking responsibility

The rent is only part of the commitment. Repair obligations, service charges, insurance contributions and requirements at the end of the lease can affect the overall cost of occupation.

A surveyor can help assess the building's condition. A solicitor can explain how the proposed wording allocates responsibility. Where the parties agree to limit repairs by reference to a schedule of condition, that agreement needs to be reflected properly in the lease.

Taking photographs of existing damage is useful evidence, but businesses should not assume that the photographs alone determine what they will have to repair. The wording and the supporting documents need to work together.

Match the service to the document

Before instructing a provider, establish what work is needed. Preparing a new lease from agreed terms is different from reviewing a draft supplied by the landlord's solicitor. Negotiating changes, dealing with title enquiries and completing related documents may involve further work.

LeaseAssured offers a guided online process for creating commercial leases, with qualified solicitor review. Its new lease drafting service is priced at £895 plus VAT, while review of an existing lease is offered separately at £350 plus VAT.

Those are distinct services. A tenant who already has a landlord's draft should establish which route fits their situation rather than assume a lease creation package covers the same work as review and negotiation.

The business should also be clear about who the solicitor acts for and whether it needs its own independent advice. Solicitor review of a document does not mean both parties have received separate advice on their respective interests.

Ask what the fixed fee includes

A fixed fee is easier to assess when the scope is written down. Ask what documents will be provided, what amendments are included and how any additional work will be priced.

If a rent deposit deed, licence for alterations or negotiation with the other party is needed, establish whether it forms part of the quote. Ask separately about searches, registration, tax advice and other transaction requirements where relevant. The important point is to understand what has been commissioned and what remains to be arranged.

Give the provider a realistic timetable too. Producing a document is one stage in a transaction that may depend on information, approvals and action from several people.

Make the lease part of the premises decision

LeaseAssured's practical example shows how businesses can approach lease documentation through a defined online process with solicitor involvement. The starting point remains a clear understanding of the proposed deal.

Before committing to premises, set out how the space will be used, the work needed before opening and the flexibility the business may require later. Discuss those points with the appropriate advisers while there is still scope to resolve them. That gives the business a firmer basis for deciding whether the premises and the lease suit its plans.

LeaseAssured works with small businesses across England and Wales at leaseassured.co.uk.