FAQs for commercial property

If you rent a commercial property from us and you are intending to sell your business, you should check your lease to see if it allows you to assign or sublet the property.

If it does, and the purchaser of your business wants to take over the lease, you will need to contact us as you will need our agreement, as landlord, before the lease can be transferred and the new business owner can be allowed to occupy the property.

Before any assignment or sub-letting can proceed the new tenant will need to pass a credit check, provide references and be formally approved, just as you did when you took the lease. You may also be asked to provide a guarantee.  Please call Estates and Property on 01522 781 110 for more information about what to do in this situation.

If you rent a commercial property from us but you no longer want to do so, and the lease has not reached the end of its term, you should check to see if the lease allows you to end it early or to assign or sublet. 

If it contains a break clause, allowing you to end it early, you will need to serve notice to do so.  We would recommend that you consult a solicitor to ensure that such a notice is correctly served. 
If there is no break clause but you are permitted to assign or sublet, it will be your responsibility to find a suitable replacement tenant. We will need to approve the tenant and give consent to the assignment or sub-letting before it can proceed. The new tenant will need to pass a credit check, provide references and be formally approved, just as you did when you took the lease.  You may also be asked to provide a guarantee.

Please call Estates and Property on 01522 781 110 for more information about what to do in this situation.

You must not alter a property you rent from us without formal consent. When you're asking for consent from us, we will need a written proposal of what you would like to do. This should preferably include plans showing the property as it is now and the alterations that you would like to make.  

When you make alterations there are many things that must be considered including:

• the structure of the property,
• the means of escape in the event of fire,
• access for the disabled
• the need for planning consent
• the need for building regulation consent
• management of any asbestos

If considering anything other than the most minor of alterations we recommend that you consult an architect or Chartered Building Surveyor who will be able to advise you in more detail.
Further information about planning and building regulations can be obtained from your Local Authority.

What you need to do will depend on the type of lease that you have and whether any notices have been served. 

A solicitor will be able to advise you about your individual circumstances but if you phone Estates & Property on 01522 781 110 we will be able to discuss the options that may be available to you

If you want to leave your property at the end of the term please let us know. If you are leaving on or before the last day of the term you do not need to give us formal notice but if you stay beyond that date 3 months prior written notice will need to be given to us to end your responsibilities for the property.
When your lease ends you should ensure that:

• Rent and other outgoings are paid up to date and any regular standing orders etc are then stopped
• All tenants items have been removed, the property swept out and refuse removed
• The property is left in repair and in good decorative order
• All keys are returned to us
• Meter readings are taken and agreed
• Utility companies and the Local Authority Business Rates department are notified of the date that the lease ended
• All covenants within the lease have been complied with; often leases contain a clause that says that the property must be decorated in the last year of the term, in colours approved by the landlord

Your lease will tell you who is responsible for repairing your property. Sometimes the responsibility can be different for different parts. Good places to look are the sections in the lease headed 'tenants covenants' which should say what you are responsible for, and 'landlords covenants' which should tell you what we are responsible for. 

If you've looked in your lease and still aren't sure please call Estates and Property on 01522 781 110 and we'll try to help.