A new code of practice for commercial leases has been issued following a long consultation exercise involving landlords and other interested parties.
The code makes a number of changes to the substance and detail of current practice. These include:
- a simplified approach to the exercising of break clauses by tenants;
- sub-letting of the whole premises to be normally completed without the requirement for financial guarantees by the existing tenant;
- a more flexible approach to rent reviews, rather than just ‘upward only’ reviews;
- the requirement for landlords to provide best estimates of service charges; and
- the requirement that tenants’ repairing obligations should be appropriate considering the terms of the lease.
The Code for Leasing Business Premises in England and Wales 2007 can be found at
http://www.leasingbusinesspremises.co.uk/downloads/lbp_booklet.pdf.
|
