Property and premises
Commercial lease
The paper under which a business takes premises from a landlord for a term. Its money is not only in the rent: service charges, insurance, business rates and repairing obligations often cost more than the headline figure, and who carries each is the substance of the negotiation. It also sets what the space may be used for, whether it may be altered, whether it may be passed on, and what happens at the end — including whether the tenant has any right to stay, which is a question of local property law.
- In the catalogue
- Property and premises
- Where it can live
- Any of the 184 governing laws
Who uses one
- Businesses taking an office, shop, studio, workshop or warehouse.
- Landlords letting commercial space to a business tenant.
- Companies renewing or restructuring premises they already occupy.
What you are deciding
- The premises, defined precisely, and what comes with them
- The term, and any right to break it early
- The rent, how it is paid, and how it is reviewed
- Service charge, insurance and other outgoings
- Who repairs what, and in what condition it is handed back
- What the space may be used for, and what alterations are allowed
- Whether the lease may be assigned or sublet
- What happens at the end, including any right to renew
Blanks you leave stay blank and wait in the room. Nothing is filled in from a guess.
The sections a draft usually has
- 1The parties and the premises
- 2Term and break rights
- 3Rent and rent review
- 4Service charge and outgoings
- 5Permitted use
- 6Repair and decoration
- 7Alterations
- 8Assignment and subletting
- 9Insurance
- 10End of the lease and reinstatement
A general outline, not a required one. What turns up in a draft follows what you described. A contract is written in the order a contract is read.
What people call it
The names this kind of paper goes by. They are here because people search for them. They also filter the catalogue. They are not a wordlist the door matches. At the composer you describe the deal in your own words instead.
- commercial lease
- office lease agreement
- retail lease
- shop lease agreement
- warehouse lease
- business premises lease
Questions people ask
- What is a repairing obligation?
- The allocation of who fixes what. A full repairing obligation puts the building's condition on the tenant, which can be far more expensive than the rent, so it is read closely rather than skimmed.
- What is a break clause?
- A right for one or both sides to end the lease early on a named date and on stated conditions. The conditions are usually strict, and missing one is a common way a break fails.
- Does a business tenant have a right to renew?
- In some jurisdictions there is statutory security of tenure that can be excluded by a set procedure; in others there is none. It is entirely a matter of local property law.
General answers about the document. Not advice about your situation. Not written about any one country.
Where it lives
A contract names the legal system it is governed by. That is a separate decision from which paper it is. You pick it at the door, from any of the 184 units in Governing law, including England and Wales, Delaware, California and New York.
You do not start from this page. Describe the deal in one sentence at the door. Read the draft back in plain language, in the order a contract is read.
Start it at the door →Related kinds