Landlord & Tenant – Commercial

The best approach to a landlord and tenant relationship is to view it as a contract.

A landlord has a premises and seeks to receive a rent for that premises. A tenant requires accommodation and is prepared to pay for the accommodation. The premises should satisfy the tenant and the rent should satisfy the landlord.

The foregoing principles apply all the way up from the license of a stand at a trade show to the operation of a supermarket in a shopping centre.

There are the fundamentals. Then there are the ad-ons. Each relationship determines the ad-ons. There are many landlord and tenant relationships. There is a body of Law that relates to these relationships some of which has been with us since the 19th century.

There are also rights. Generally the rights favor the tenant rather than the landlord. The acquisition of additional rights by a tenant can be a costly experience for a landlord.

We believe that we have the experience to approach this relationship with confidence in order to ensure that the instructing party achieves what is intended and what is fair, reasonable and correct practice.

The commercial wing of the landlord and tenant practice brings with it additional rights, duties and obligations.

The understanding of repairing clauses and to the extent that this duty should be taken on by a tenant is not an exact science. Each relationship has to be tailored to the circumstances as presented.

The landlord’s right to ensure that the tenant carries the burden of the insurance cover is again a subject that requires careful scrutiny.

The drafting, the understanding and the operation of rent review clauses are another area that has become sophisticated and is rapidly developing. Words used often have the opposite meaning and must be clearly understood in the context of the relationship.

The insistence and responsibility that pertains in relation to guarantees is just one other subject that has to be understood in the context of the relationship and explained.

The foregoing are just simple examples of the areas of understanding that have to be dealt with in the cut and thrust of the letting of a commercial property.

There are more, in fact many more issues and having been involved in the drafting and reading of leases we have a good picture of what is required and should be done depending on the instruction.