Drafting Commercial Leases - A Practical Introduction

Introduction

This virtual classroom seminar on drafting commercial leases will give you a good understanding of the key features of commercial leases. It will stress the need to make the drafting appropriate to the physical property, its extent, its rights and restrictions.

Firstly we will look at the Heads of Terms, with some exercises, then we will look at resources, the Commercial Lease Code and sources of suitable precedents.

Then we will go through the key terms of the lease and look at what the landlord and tenant will each be looking for, taking into account recent developments in the law, the challenges of the current market, EPC's, green lease/climate change clauses and so on.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive course will cover the following:

• Outline of the competing interests of the landlord and the tenant in today's market
• The importance of getting the Heads of Terms right & the RICS Model heads of Terms
• Key points to agree at the outset and the usual areas of dispute or that need clarification
• Precedent leases - horses for courses. Law Society's, Model Commercial Leases and Practical Law precedents
• The importance of defining the premises and use of accurate plans
• Surveys and Search Blindness - 'Surely it’s all in the lease?'
• The RICS Commercial Lease Code and good practice
• Key sections of the lease:
• Demised premises, term, insurance, rent, rights and easements
• Rights to assign and underlet
• Rent Review - types and drafting points
• Insurance and rent suspension/break clauses
• The 'FRI' lease - repairing obligations and limiting tenant's liabilities
• Service charges - practical approaches to this issue
• Planning and the new use clauses
• Security of Tenure - its importance and how to exclude it
• Alterations, break clauses, Green Lease clauses, MEES
• Rent Deposits and Guarantees
• A short warning on SDLT & leases

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.