Commercial Leases

We provide commercial leasing advice to agents, landlords and tenants on a daily basis for their respective needs. Be it preparing a new lease, or reviewing one, we have an expert leasing team that is capable of delivering quality advice in demanding and time-critical situations.

Common Services we provide for Commercial Leases

Commercial Lease Advice Prepare a new lease (Landlord)Review a lease (Tenant)Guarantor for a lease Importance of registering a lease Lease Termination

Commercial Lease Advice

In our many years experience in providing commercial lease advice, we encounter the following scenarios when either a landlord or tenant requires commercial and sound advice:

a new business has been provided with a disclosure statement from an agent and does not know the implications it has on them professionally and personally;
experienced business owners that require a lawyer to review their lease agreement;
a tenant that is approaching a full term of their lease and is considering not renewing their option or extending their option to renew their lease;
advising a landlord or tenant to see if the other side is in breach of a term of the agreement;
tenant wishing to sublease the premises;
landlord or tenant wishing to terminate a lease.

Prepare a new lease (Landlord)

Review a lease (Tenant)

Have you received a disclose agreement from the landlord or a real estate agent and require a leasing lawyer to review the contents of that agreement and advise you accordingly? We are able to review the lease agreement and where possible, advise what clauses should be amended in order to even out the playing field. When advising a tenant, we generally find lease agreement can favour the landlord with limited or no rights assigned to the tenant. It is important that you seek this advice.

Guarantor for a lease

Importance of registering a lease

Generally registration is of most benefit to a tenant compared to a landlord. For a tenant, it provides protection against a bank repossessing the property if the landlord defaults. It also protects the tenant if the landlord decides to sell the premises to another investor.

As a business owner and tenant, you may decide to take a loan for lease finance against your business. The financial institution will generally require you to have a registered lease.

Lease Termination

Commercial Lease advice and services

We advise and assist in the following commercial leases:

Preparation of new Lease;
Extension of Lease;
Termination of Lease and rent recovery;
Assignment of an existing Lease;
Variation of an existing Lease;
Disclosure Statements; and
Registration of a Lease on the Title.

We act for small, medium, large and institutional clients and provide legal advice, drafting lease documents, negotiating leases, enforcing lease agreements for both landlords or tenants and representing clients in disputes.

We can prepare bespoke commercial leases for any landlord or property, including agreements for lease where the building is not yet constructed.

We work regularly with commercial leasing agents and are well attuned to the commercial leasing market.

Lease reviews and advice for tenants is also one of our specialties. Given that there is no single commercial lease agreement used in the market, lease agreements can often favour the landlord more than the tenant so it is important to consider all the legal and financial issues that our lease expert lawyers will advise you on.

For tenants, before signing a commercial lease you might consider the following:

Licenses or permits;
Business growth which may impact the term of lease provision;
The term of lease and the granted option(s);
Physical condition of the premises and who will pay for certain repairs;
Alterations to the property;
Chattels including fit outs being attached to the property;
Insurance; and
Any other matter that may be specific to your tenancy.

The complexities under the Retail and Commercial Leases Act 1995 (SA) make it important for both commercial landlords and tenants to seek legal advice.