Best conveyancing experience ever. After two supposedly good law firms failed to even do the basics post instruction, for nearly 8 weeks, Jess at Laker Legal took on the difficult challenge of overseeing my purchase and completion in record time. Always proactive, very knowledgeable of her subject and extremely good communicator. I never had to chase the firm for anything. They always answered my calls efficiently. I can't praise them enough. What a wonderful experience.
I recommend Jess and would be very happy to use her again in the future.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY LEGAL SERVICES
Our team has considerable experience in acting for both landlords and tenants in all aspects of commercial property. Whether you are buying, leasing or selling commercial property, our expert team can assist and provide a fixed fee for your Legal work.
Many people, even those entering into a long term lease, will sign what is effectively a standard template lease that may not properly accommodate all their requirements and may even hinder them in properly conducting their business from the leased premises.
When a long term lease is entered into, for premises that may well form the base for the livelihood of a new business or organisation, it is important that both parties are aware of all their rights and obligations, including:
- Length of the lease term
- Is there an automatic right to renew?
- Can this right be excluded?
- What repair and maintenance obligations are there for both landlord and tenant?
- Does the Lease allow the business to operate freely or does it restrict certain types of business being conducted from the premises?
- Can the lease be assigned or the building sub-let?
- Who pays the costs if enforcement or forfeiture proceedings are necessary?
- Can improvements or alterations be made to the building or premises?
- Can the landlord forfeit the lease and in what circumstances?
- How often is the rent reviewed?
We can create bespoke lease agreements that accurately reflect your requirements.
We can also advise both the landlord and tenant in proceedings for forfeiture of the lease or pursuing rent arrears and the enforcement of covenants and rent clauses.
DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE
Stephen Ogden has over 10 years experience acting for a large number of entrepreneurs, land owners, investors and property developers across England and Wales. Stephen and his team have a vast amount of experience in this complex legal area and deal with issues such as :
- Acquisitions of commercial property
- New build and construction documentation
- Pre Contract negotiation and due diligence
- Warranties and guarantees
- Finance and commercial
- Agreements for leases, licence to underlet, licence to alter
- Finance and commercial mortgages
- Disposal
- Development agreements
- Statutory Agreements :
- Section 106 Agreements
- Section 104 Agreements
- Section 278 Agreements
- Section 38 Agreements
At Laker Legal Solicitors, Steve and his commercial property team will listen to your instructions and determine your objectives for your project going forward. We will consider any legal issues and seek to resolve these.
It may be the case that you or your company require finance and Steve and his team can assist with :
- Advice on loan documentation
- Preparation and negotiation for Certificates or Title
- Perfection of security
- Deeds of priority between lenders
- Joint ventures
- Refinancing
- Bridging loans
SUB LEASING / ASSIGNMENT
Subletting a commercial property can be a complicated task and a complicated legal area. It is always best to get help and guidance from an expert commercial property Solicitor before committing or agreeing to any sub let or assignment of lease.
It is paramount to understand what it is that your lease contains and what your respective rights and responsibilities are pursuant to that specific lease, regardless of whether you are a landlord or a tenant.
Our commercial property experts can assist you with any of the following issues in respect of sub leasing :
- Consent to subletting
- Advising on terms of a sub-lease
- Unlawful or unauthorised subletting
- Drafting of a bespoke sub-lease
Below are 7 key issues to consider when subletting as follows :
- It is important that you always check the terms of the lease in order to make sure that sub letting is actually permissible. If it is permissible then there will usually be a process stipulated within the agreement for the Landlord and/or Landlords to consent. You need to carefully consider this and ascertain what steps need to be taken.
- Should you sublet or have the lease assigned – you have to carry out a risk vs cost analysis in order to make this informed decision.
- Are you confident in the ability of the sub-lessee to pay and meet their obligations to you. It is important that you are aware that you still remain liable to the Landlord and so if the sub-lessee doesn`t pay, for whatever reason, then the premises will be liable.
- How sure are you about the sub-lessee? Remember that you remain liable to the Landlord. If the sub-lessee doesn’t pay you or damages the premises you will be liable.
- Are you sub-letting the whole of the premise of just part of the premises. It is important that care is provided to ascertain over shared parts and consideration is given to alterations of the premises.
- If you sublet a commercial premises then you will need a formal agreement. That is a comprehensive legal document which we can assist with.
- To limit any potential scope for disputes, it is imperative that you obtain expert legal advice on sub letting and assignment of any lease.
Please feel free to contact our Stephen Ogden and his team today for a free no obligation chat about your situation and see how we can help. We are a law firm that will take a proactive approach and provide excellent legal services to our whole client base.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY DISPUTES
If you rent or lease or property or if you own a property then at some stage you may encounter a dispute either with your landlord or your tenant. Sometimes this is referred to as Property Litigation.
Commercial property law is extremely complex and often there are many thousands or millions of pounds at risk and so it is paramount that you obtain expert legal advice.
Stephen Ogden has experience in the following types of commercial property disputes as follows :
- Rent recovery
- Enforcement of easements
- Possessions
- Rights of way disputes
- Forfeiture and relief from forfeiture claims
- Landlord and tenant disputes
- Rent and serve charge recovery disputes
- Business renewal disputes
- Breach of restrictive covenants
- Trespass and nuisance claims
- Claims for adverse possession
- Dilapidation claims
There are many methods to resolving a dispute and our Stephen Ogden is well versed with Alternative Dispute Resolution to ensure that cases remain out of Court.
However, if your case goes to Court , Stephen has vast experience of dealing with these types of claims at all levels.
SERVICE CHARGE AND GROUND RENT DISPUTES
These types of disputes are very common between landlord and tenants. Landlords are obliged under the law to present to the leaseholders the accounts which show and evidence the annual services charge.
Landlords must also make sure that they provide adequate notice to leaseholder when carrying out any extraordinary repairs and maintenance charges. If repairs are carried out as an emergency then they should be given notice of the same too.
Service charges charged by Landlords should always reflect the true costs of the actual expenditure upon a property as tenants pay a percentage under the terms of the lease.
It is common for leaseholders to feel that the landlord may be profiting from the service charges and so it is good practice for the landlord to keep detailed records of what the service charge compromises of.
It is also important to note that if a service charge is not provided to the tenant correctly (served on them) then they may not be legally obligated to pay it. Once it is served the tenant has a limited period in which to challenge the service charge. Any dispute would be referred to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber Residential Property).
Tenants usually only have a short time in which to dispute a Service Charge – and taking legal advice from a specialist housing solicitor can help resolve disputes without having to refer the matter to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber – Residential Property).
These matters can be particularly complex and costly and so it`s important that strategic and effective legal advice is obtained from the outset.
Contact us now – or email stephen.ogden@lakerlegal.co.uk to discuss your commercial property enquiry in further details.
