What's in our leases?

Tenant to reinstate any alterations by the end of the term.

The position taken in the drafting of the assignment provisions in the lease seeks to compromise between the position usually taken by the landlord at the outset and the provisions in the Code for Leasing Business Premises (2007). Whilst the obligation for the tenant to provide an AGA on assignment is not limited to situations where the assignee/incoming tenant is of lower financial standing than the assignor/outgoing tenant, the landlord can only require an AGA where reasonable. Whilst the tenant must have paid up all outstanding sums prior to assignment, there is no requirement that there are no other outstanding breaches of the tenant's obligations in the lease. There is no prohibition on the tenant assigning to group companies and sharing the premises with group companies is allowed. The landlord is not allowed to refuse consent on the basis that the value of the landlord's interest in the premises will be reduced by the assignment of the lease. There is no notice of assignment registration fee payable by the tenant.

Underlettings to be outside the protection of Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 security of tenure provisions. Sub underletting is prohibited. Underletting of part is an option. There is no notice of underletting registration fee payable by the tenant.

Landlord insures and tenant reimburses the cost of the premium. The landlord must insure the following risks: “fire (including subterranean fire), lightning, explosion, storm, flood, subsidence, landslip, heave, earthquake, burst or overflowing water pipes, tanks or apparatus, impact by aircraft or other aerial devices and any articles dropped from them, impact by vehicles, terrorism, riot, civil commotion and malicious damage to the extent, in each case, that cover is generally available on normal commercial terms in the UK insurance market at the time the insurance is taken out, and any other risks against which the Landlord reasonably insures from time to time, subject in all cases to any excesses, limitations and exclusions imposed by the insurers”. There are uninsured risk provisions in the lease. They provide that the tenant is not responsible for damage or destruction by an uninsured risk. Uninsured Risks are defined as an Insured Risk which was not insured against because it was not generally available when the insurance is taken out or renewed or is not insured by reason of a limitation or exclusion imposed by the insurers.

Option for unconditional break right or conditional upon any or all of the following:

• payment of principal rent;
• giving back the premises free of any lawful occupier;
• break penalty.

A lease of the whole of the landlord’s title will include the structure in the demise to the tenant. A lease of part of the landlord’s title will include the interior of the premises only, whereas repairs and decoration of the exterior will be dealt with via a service charge.

Option for upwards only open market review or RPI/CPI rent reviews.

The forfeiture provisions contain the usual right for the landlord to forfeit the lease in the event of sums due under the lease being unpaid for 21 days, breach of the tenant’s covenants in the lease (this has been limited to a right to forfeit for material breaches only) and tenant/guarantor insolvency situations.

Various options catered for in the lease dealing with structural and non structural alterations.

Various options to include rent free periods or rent concessions are available, whether from the start of the term, or from a later date during the term or as a rent reduction spread over defined periods during the term.