Shop lease agreement

About this document

This lease should be used to let a shop or retail unit that does not share services or facilities with neighbouring units owned by the same landlord. The shop itself may be part of a parade of other shops owned by other landlords, or it may be stand-alone.

The agreement is suitable for any business in Use Classes F.2, E, and 'Sui Generis'.

The unit may or may not have additional space used by the tenant for other business purposes, such as offices or storage. This document does not cover adjacent residential accommodation. See below for alternative leases.

The lease has been drawn to prefer the interest of the landlord rather than the tenant.

Provided the term is seven years or less, the document does not need to be registered at the Land Registry.

Similar documents

We also sell another version of this document with a term greater than 7 years that contains some additional paragraphs covering more technical points. These include:

• provisions for sub-letting
• provisions for an authorised guarantee agreement
• extensive landlord's warranties
• references to land registration for leases with a term greater than 7 years
• prescribed lease clauses

If a restaurant, cafe or fast food outlet will be operated from the property, use a restaurant lease agreement, which contains specific clauses for commercial kitchens and food retail.

If the shop being let is part of a parade owned by the same landlord, or uses shared facilities and services, use a lease agreement for a shop in parade his agreement, which contains service charge recovery provisions.

If the tenant will also live at the property, use a mixed use lease for a unit with residential space. If the property will be converted to an office (such as a solicitor or an estate agent might use), an office lease agreement may be more appropriate.

If you are still not sure, our article on which business lease should help you.

Key features

Plain English is used throughout except where it is necessary to use legal terms common in this field of law.

The key features of this template can be summarised as:

• term of 7 years or under (often called a short term lease)
• standard guarantor
• options for transfer or assignment to another party
• sub-letting forbidden
• option to include a break clause for premature termination by the tenant
• a choice of options for rent reviews
• opt-out of Sections 24-28 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954

This document has been drawn so as to make it applicable to the vast majority of leasing scenarios without making it difficult to edit. We sell another version of this document, aimed at property developers, solicitors and surveyors, that contains some additional paragraphs covering more technical points. You might be interested in looking at it here if you need any of the following:

• provisions for sub-letting
• provisions for an authorised guarantee agreement
• extensive landlord's warranties
• references to land registration for leases with a term greater than 7 years
• prescribed lease clauses

Relevant property law

Commercial property law is regulated primarily by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, amended many times.

Account has also been taken of:

• the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995
• the Regulatory Reform Regulations 2003
• the Joint Committee's Code for Leasing Business Premises
• the RICS' Code on Service Charges

In balancing the codes with the law and the interest of the landlord, we have followed the codes where reasonable, but have preferred the interest of the landlord where there may be a difference.

Document contents

This shop lease is comprehensive, providing alternative choices for important decisions.

The contents include 29 provisions and 2 schedules covering:

• rent: period, amount, other payments, interest on overdue rent, periodic review
• condition and repair
• tenant's positive obligations
• restrictions on tenant: prohibited activities on the property
• signs and advertisements
• assignment of the lease
• indemnities by the tenant
• security deposit
• insurance
• access for landlord
• guarantor
• termination: default notice by landlord; provision for premature termination (a break clause)
• forfeiture
• security of tenure excluded
• Schedule 1: rights reserved
• Schedule 2: draft agreement for a security deposit

Scottish version of this lease

The law governing commercial leases is substantially different in Scotland as compared with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland there is no equivalent to the Landlord and Tenant Acts and there is little legislation or case law relating to leases. So the version we have drawn for our Scottish user is common law based.

Regarding registration of leases in Scotland, only those for longer than 20 years must be registered at the Land Register of Scotland. However, the lease is often registered in the Books of Council and Session in Edinburgh.

For the Scottish version of this lease please select 'Scotland' from the list in top box.