Helen Lucas and Lauren Kay O’Sullivan spoke at our General Counsel Know-How series on pitfalls in property.
Read some quick takeaways from the session below and you can watch the full recording of the session here.
Plan Ahead with Your Lease Terms
Misunderstandings around repair obligations, break clauses, and service charges can lead to costly surprises. To ensure your lease terms align with your needs get legal advice early.
Serviced Office Agreements Aren’t Always Simple
While flexible, these agreements can come with hidden costs, difficult to operate termination rights, and extensive landlord rights over the property. As a minimum, a headline legal review is critical to avoid disputes later.
Alterations and Dilapidations Require Careful Planning
Making changes to your property? Clearly detail your planned works to secure consent early on and avoid delaying your transactions. Clearly define the extent of your obligations to reinstate the Property and to what standard at lease end. Budget for dilapidations costs well ahead of time. These details can save time and money down the line.
Be Aware of Hidden Costs
Service charges, utilities and estate management costs can escalate unexpectedly. SDLT payments on VAT inclusive rents, rent reviews and turnover rents catch people out. Negotiating caps on service charge or doing thorough due diligence on landlord operations can mitigate risk.
Post-COVID Trends in Leasing
While the leasing market has seen some tenant-friendly shifts, such as rent-free periods in struggling sectors, it largely remains landlord-favorable. Careful negotiation is still key to protecting your needs and engaging legal experts early ensures you’re not caught off guard by property challenges.
About Ignition Law’s General Counsel Know-How series
Ignition Law’s General Counsel Know-How webinar series delivers technical legal insights designed to make a real impact. Originally created to upskill our team, we found these sessions would provide valuable guidance for in-house counsel, seasoned entrepreneurs, and business leaders too—so we now ask our clients and network to join as well. Focused, practical, and technical, these webinars help you navigate legal challenges and stay ahead.
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