The recent case of Goldman Sachs International v Procession House Trustee Ltd [2018] illustrates the difficulties that the parties to a lease may have when exercising a break option. In this case the tenant, Goldman Sachs, occupied office premises under a 25 year lease at a rent of £4 million per year. The terms of the lease provided that a break option would be exercisable by the tenant after 20 years subject to there being no rent arrears and “subject to the tenant being able to yield up the premises with vacant possession”.

Ramsdens Solicitors announced three new Partners in its latest annual promotions round. They also promoted nine staff to associate and senior associate roles. These promotions will significantly bolster the firm's Family, Private Client, Corporate and Commercial and Commercial Property teams.

Commercial landlords beware! Prior to granting any form of the above, consideration must be given to which is the most appropriate.

One fundamental purpose of a commercial lease is to ensure that the landlord can receive income from the tenant in the form of rent, by putting necessary provisions in place. The lease should include various details such as the date of the first rent payment, the payment dates going forward and whether the rent is payable in advance or in arrears. The term ‘rent’ can also include other payments that may become payable, such as service charges and insurance.

Those of you who have bought property before (whether commercial or residential) may have heard of this regime. It was introduced by the Environmental Protection Act 1995 and came into force on 1st April 2000. It is an important consideration for all property owners and occupiers.

Some of our most beautiful and culturally significant buildings have now been legally protected for 70 years following the introduction of Listed Buildings under the Town and Country Planning Act 1947.

You may have heard colleagues, family or friends mention Japanese Knotweed with such mentioning’s being followed by groans and sighs but not really understood what they were talking about and why. Here we try and shed some light on the matter.

Landlords granting short lets to occupiers so they can claim fresh relief from business rates once the properties become empty should note that the availability of relief can depend on who the occupier is – particularly where the occupier is a charity.