Commercial and Retail Leasing

Leases can have an impact on the relationship between parties for several years and Australia has a highly dynamic leasing environment where legislation is often changing – so it's critical to get the right advice.

At Baker Love Lawyers our leasing team not only know leasing, but they have the depth of property and commercial experience needed when advising clients involved in leasing-related transactions and disputes. They will deal with your matter in a way that is holistic, reduces risk and is commercially practical.

Our leasing team have a wealth of experience in acting for landlords, tenants, and property managers in a wide range of leasing-related matters and may assist in any of the following areas:

• Lease drafting and reviews
• Lease negotiations
• Finalisation of lease documents, including stamping and registration
• Agreements for lease
• Lease assignment
• Subleasing
• Variation of lease
• Surrender of lease
• Advising upon and implementing rent review clauses
• Licenses and car-parking agreements
• Compliance advice on identifying and meeting legislative requirements;
• Agent’s heads of agreement
• Dispute resolution
• Advising on enforcement proceedings
• Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal proceedings

We have acted for a range of leasing clients, from large retail complexes to pubs and clubs.

Our team have acted for leasing clients in a range of fields including:

• Large retail complexes
• Small shopping villages
• Pubs and clubs
• Restaurants
• Commercial office space
• Public land
• Strata title property
• Franchise leases and many more

As a landlord, you need to know that your lease will be negotiated, drafted and enforced in a manner which reflects your commercial and legal interests appropriately and robustly. We understand that the drafting of leases is a very sophisticated task and a few words in some lease provisions can have major practical and financial consequences.

Regardless of the circumstances or type of property we will tailor the lease to your needs.

In complex circumstances, the lease can be drafted in a very specific and detailed manner to meet your particular requirements or in other cases, where appropriate, a basic lease can be drafted.

As a tenant, you need to be sure that the lease agreement you are entering into adequately protects your interests. At Baker Love Lawyers we appreciate that for a business owner who leases their premises that, given that their business is often the primary source of one’s livelihood, it is absolutely imperative to ensure that the lease is done right.

We will ensure that when acting for you in a lease transaction to take into account your interests in relation to such matters as option periods, rent review, rent free periods, fit out and ensuring the lease accurately reflects what was agreed on in any prior negotiations
Leases disputes are common and we can assist you achieve a quick practical solution to the problem. As a landlord, you need to know how to enforce your rights under the lease, as there are often strict legal compliance requirements and it is critical that the correct procedure is followed if there is a suspected default under the lease. If you are a tenant in breach, you want to protect your position and negotiate the best outcome.

We recently acheived a positive outcome for a commercial leasing client by vigorously pressing our client's rights.

We recently acted for a commercial landlord who had a national tenant of some commercial weight that was not meeting their requirements pursuant to the lease. In accordance with our client’s instructions, by succinctly and vigorously pressing our client’s rights pursuant to the lease, we were able to achieve an outcome within weeks whereby the tenant in breach was lawfully evicted, the overdue rent was paid without need for court proceedings and a new lease was entered into with another tenant on suitable terms.

Contact us now for more information on Commercial and Retail Leasing.

Solicitors acting in the area of Commercial and Retail Leasing:
	Bruce Hurrell Partner		Andrew Knight Partner
	Dean Frith Partner