Business and Property Decisions

This months article is about documents and agreements when making business and property decisions.

With most business and property decisions comes paperwork, whether to record the agreement reached or to set out the terms on which parties have decided to work in the future.

These documents take many forms such as Leases, Rent Review Notices, Deeds of Variations, Heads of Terms or Articles of Association, and more. In all of these cases the detail is crucial. Therefore, our advice would be to involve a solicitor, or surveyor, or both.

Recent cases where the details have been particularly important include:

• Notices served outside of a legal timeframe meaning that the tenant was unable to restructure their tenancy and reduce costs significantly
• Additional non-negotiated clauses being added to Leases and Deed of Variations in the hope that the other party signs without noticing
• Items of equipment missing from fixtures and fittings list
• New leases that are far more favourable to the Landlord than the Tenant (when they are supposed to reflect the old lease)
• Amended voting rights on shareholders agreements

These agreements dictate the way in which your business operates. They can be crucial in maintaining a profitable future.

The effect these agreements can have is difficult to measure; until a change in circumstances occurs, which in turn may then cause a profound problem. We have even seen cases in which tenants have had to hand their business back to the Landlord, to be run under management, after spending years of time and effort building a successful business.

If you would like some assistance to see whether the paperwork you receive reflects the deal that you have agreed, please do get in touch.

For more articles like this, go to our Articles page.

If you need any advice Contact us.