Lease Terminations and Transfers - Tips for Landlords and Tenants

All businesses are looking at managing costs and reducing risk in today's economic climate. Here are some tips for Property owners and Tenants to employ if faced with lease terminations and transfers.

Tips for Landlords · Understand the multiplication impact of an increase in rent to the capital value of your investment · Use rent reviews to offer cost certainty to long-term tenants · Consider establishing sub-letting agreements in order to keep good tenants should there be a need to downsize · Look to upgrading your property to fit in with current demands – smaller office spaces, multi-tenant, etc · Keep a very close eye on Make Good. Lease terminations should always be managed by specialist chartered building consultants/ surveyors to ensure tenants make good on their legal and financial responsibilities

Tips for Tenants · Use rent reviews to think about break-clauses and sub-letting agreements if downsizing is a possibility. · Lock in the rental term as a way of managing costs. · Get professional advice on any make good claim by the landlord. · Reduce the risk of any future make good claim and get an ingoing schedule of condition on any new lease. · Do a full cost analysis of re-leasing versus relocating. It might make more financial sense to renegotiate the lease terms than pay out make good claims and moving costs.

Chris Barker chris@washingtonbrown.com.au http://www.washingtonbrown.com.au