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Commercial property · Lease review

Commercial lease review: understand what you're signing before the business commits

Send us the heads of terms, or the draft lease if you already have it. We'll read it against what you've agreed and how your business will actually use the premises, then tell you in writing:

  • what the lease commits you to
  • the payments and potential liabilities it places on your business
  • your exit options, and any liability that could continue afterwards
  • what to push back on

We quote a fixed fee once we've seen the documents and agreed what you need. Your written quote sets out the work included, VAT and any other costs, and if you later want more, we agree the scope and price first. The earlier you come to us, the more you can still change.

For business premises in England and Wales.

Written by Sangita Gohil, Solicitor, admitted in 2000 · Last reviewed

Ask us to review your leaseSangita replies personally. If she's away, the property team picks it up.

Received a notice, or facing a break date? Call us on 01622 804 077 as well as sending an enquiry. Why it matters.

Who this is for

  • Businesses taking new premises: a shop, office, workshop, unit or clinic.
  • Tenants renewing a lease, or offered a new lease by their landlord.
  • Tenants buying a business that comes with a lease.
  • Tenants asked to give a personal guarantee or a rent deposit.

Acting as landlord? We also act for landlords on new lettings, renewals and consents. Tell us in your enquiry.

What we check

Rent and rent review
How and when the rent can change, and on what basis. A ban on upwards-only rent reviews in new business leases is now law but not yet in force, so we check where your lease stands.
Length, breaks and renewal
Whether you have a break right, the conditions attached to it, and whether the lease is "contracted out" of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. That, together with how you occupy the premises, affects whether you have a right to renew.
Repairs and condition
What you'll have to repair and hand back. That can include defects that were there before you moved in, unless the lease limits your obligation by reference to an agreed schedule of condition, usually photographs, attached to the lease.
Service charge and other costs
Service charge, insurance, business rates, VAT, and the landlord's legal costs.
Use and alterations
What you're allowed to use the premises for, and what fit-out work needs consent.
Getting out early
Assignment, subletting and sharing, and what you stay liable for afterwards.
Personal exposure
Personal guarantees, rent deposits, and guarantees you might have to give when you assign.
Anything out of line
Terms that conflict with the deal you agreed, or that put disproportionate risk on your business.

You get a written report in plain English, organised by risk and cost, setting out the changes we suggest you ask for, and a call to talk it through. A marked-up lease, checking revised drafts, and negotiating through to signing are quoted separately.

Not got a lease yet? Start with the heads of terms

Heads of terms are the summary of the deal that comes before the lease. This is when you have the most room to negotiate. If you send us the heads of terms first, we'll flag what needs changing before the landlord's solicitors draft the lease. The main points are usually the 1954 Act, the break clause, repairs and any guarantee. It's a shorter piece of work, quoted separately, and the full lease review follows when the draft arrives.

Contracting out: the question to ask first

Many new leases are "contracted out" of the 1954 Act. That means no right to renew when the lease ends. The landlord must give you a warning notice, and you must sign a declaration before you're committed. If you have a choice, ask before you agree heads of terms, because it's much harder to change later.

What a lease review doesn't cover

  • The building itself. A surveyor checks condition and services. If you're taking on repairs, we'll usually recommend a survey and a schedule of condition.
  • Whether the rent is fair. A surveyor or letting agent can advise on that.
  • Planning and building regulations: whether your use is allowed. We'll flag it, but it may need a planning consultant.
  • Tax calculations. Stamp Duty Land Tax (or Land Transaction Tax in Wales) can be payable on a lease. We'll tell you if it's likely to arise, but take advice from your accountant on the figures.

What to send us

  • the heads of terms, or the draft lease and any side letter
  • the landlord's or agent's details
  • a short note of how you'll use the premises and any fit-out you plan
  • any survey, schedule of condition or service charge budget you have
  • for a renewal: your current lease, and any notice you've received from the landlord
  • your deadline, if there is one

If there's a deadline

Some lease dates can't be moved once they pass. If you've received a notice from your landlord (a "section 25 notice"), or a break date is coming up, tell us straight away and send the notice with your enquiry.

Under the 1954 Act, a landlord's notice or a tenant's request for a new lease has to be given between 6 and 12 months ahead. If you can't agree terms, a court application has to be made by the date the notice or request sets, unless you and the landlord agree in writing, before that date passes, to extend it. Break clauses are applied strictly: if the lease makes paying the rent or giving vacant possession a condition, an unpaid sum or belongings left behind can mean the break fails.

We don't give a verdict on a deadline or a break notice without seeing the documents. Sending an enquiry doesn't mean we've taken on your matter or are watching a deadline for you, so call us as well as writing.

How it works

  1. 01Tell us about the premises, the landlord and any deadline through the enquiry form.
  2. 02We check we can act for you. Sangita then sends you a secure link to upload the documents.
  3. 03We confirm a fixed fee, and how long the review will take, in writing.
  4. 04We complete identity checks and open your file.
  5. 05You receive the written review, and we talk it through.
  6. 06If you'd like us to negotiate the lease with the landlord's solicitors through to signing, we quote for that too.
Ask us to review your leaseSangita replies personally. If she's away, the property team picks it up.

Commercial lease review: common questions

Yes. Send us the heads of terms. This is when you have the most room to negotiate, and we'll flag what needs changing before the landlord's solicitors draft the lease. It's quoted separately from the lease review, which follows when the draft arrives.

Your written quote sets out exactly what's included before you commit. As a rule, the lease review fee covers reading the draft lease and any side letter, a written report organised by risk and cost with the changes we suggest you ask for, and a call to talk it through. A marked-up lease, checking the landlord's revised drafts, and negotiating through to signing are quoted separately. If you ask us to do more, we agree the scope and price with you first.

Yes, if you'd like us to. We'll quote for taking the lease through negotiation to signing, and confirm it in writing before we start that work.

Yes. We can explain what it commits you to, your break and renewal position, and the dates you need to diary. We can't change the terms of a signed lease unless the landlord agrees, but knowing where you stand is often what matters, especially before a break date or a renewal.

Yes. For a renewal, send us your current lease and any notice or request that has been served, as soon as you have it, because the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 sets deadlines that can't be missed. For an assignment, we'll look at whether you need the landlord's consent, what conditions the landlord can attach, and whether you might have to guarantee the person taking over.

Often, yes. A lease review is legal advice on the document, not a physical inspection. If you're taking on repairs, a surveyor can tell you what condition the building is in and prepare a schedule of condition, and we can then make sure the lease limits your repairing obligation by reference to it.

Not on its own. A standalone review covers the documents you send us. If we act for you through to completion, we'll quote for searches, any Stamp Duty Land Tax (or Land Transaction Tax) return, and registration at HM Land Registry where the lease needs it. We'll tell you if tax is likely to be payable, but take advice from your accountant on the figures: the tenant remains responsible for the tax return even when a solicitor files it.

Call us on 01622 804 077 as well as sending an enquiry, and send any notice you've received. We'll tell you quickly whether we can help in the time available. Sending an enquiry doesn't mean we've taken on your matter or are watching the deadline for you.

Yes. If you're asked to guarantee the lease personally, tell us at the start. We normally act for the business taking the lease, and a guarantor's interests aren't always the same as the business's, so we'll tell you whether you should take separate advice on the guarantee.

Have a question that isn't here? Talk to a lawyer directly - we respond to all enquiries within one working day.

Sources

Also: Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ss.23 to 28, 29B and 69(2); English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 (upwards-only rent reviews, not yet in force); Capitol Park Leeds plc v Global Radio Services Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 995 (vacant possession is about people, belongings and other occupiers, not the condition of the premises).

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This page is general information about the law of England and Wales, not advice on your lease. Last checked .

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