Heads of terms for a commercial lease set the deal before anyone drafts: rent and any rent free period, the term and any break, repair, who can assign, and whether the lease is protected by the 1954 Act. We draft or review them from £450, then negotiate the commercial lease or agreement for lease to agreed form, at a fixed fee with no VAT.
Handled entirely in writing. No hearings, no meetings, no attendance required.
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The points below decide what the lease costs you over its life. Each is easier to win in the heads than in the lease, and much easier than in a dispute.
The rent, when it starts, any rent free period and what it is conditional on, and how often and on what basis the rent is reviewed.
The length of the term and any break, with conditions you can actually meet: a break conditional on perfect compliance with every covenant is a break you may never be able to use.
Whether you take the premises as they are and must hand them back in better repair. A schedule of condition annexed to the lease limits what you can be asked to put right at the end.
Whether you can assign, underlet or share occupation, and on what conditions, so the lease does not trap you if the business changes.
Whether the lease is protected by the 1954 Act or contracted out under section 38A, which decides whether you have a right to a new lease at the end.
Service charge, any rent deposit or personal guarantee, and who pays the landlord's legal costs.
Heads of terms are normally marked subject to contract, so neither side is bound by them. A binding contract to grant a lease has to be in writing, contain every term the parties have agreed and be signed by both (Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, section 2); section 2 does not apply to a contract for a short lease of the kind in section 54(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (section 2(5)(a) of the 1989 Act). Already holding a draft lease? See lease review.
Written advice within 24 hours of instruction. Trademarks filed within 48 hours of instruction. Documents in days, not weeks. Never "3 to 5 business days" just to hear back.
| Item | What it covers | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Heads of terms, drafted or reviewed | Get the commercial deal right before the lease is drafted; the cheapest point to win every later argument. | from £450 |
| New lease or renewal, settled to agreed form | Heads of terms to agreed final form: terms advised and negotiated with the other side, with an authorised solicitor instructed to prepare the deed and deal with Land Registry where the law requires. | from £1,450 |
| Negotiated through to completion | The whole transaction managed: negotiation, agreed form, and completion coordinated with the instructed authorised solicitor who prepares the deed and handles registration. | from £2,450 |
Your fixed fee is confirmed in writing once I have seen your document. Pay within 24 hours of that confirmation for the reduced fee.
Bespoke and urgent matters outside the schedule: £650 per hour, capped estimates given in advance. Corporate retainers from £995/month.
The agent's heads of terms, the landlord's draft lease or agreement for lease, and a line on what matters most to you.
I read it and confirm the fee in writing before any work starts. Pay within 24 hours of that confirmation for the reduced fee.
We put your points to the agent or the landlord's solicitor in writing and settle the heads, the agreement for lease and the lease to agreed form.
An agreement for lease binds both sides to grant and take the lease once conditions are met: the landlord's works, planning permission, a superior landlord's consent or the tenant's fit out. It is a contract for the disposition of an interest in land, so it must meet the same writing and signature rules (Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, section 2).
We negotiate the conditions, the long stop date and what happens if a condition fails, and settle the agreement for lease to agreed form with the lease annexed to it. A new lease settled to agreed form is from £1,450; the whole transaction through to completion is from £2,450.
Normally not. They are marked subject to contract, and a contract to grant a lease binds only when it is in writing, contains every term the parties have agreed and is signed by both sides (Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, section 2), except for a contract for a short lease of the kind in section 54(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (section 2(5)(a) of the 1989 Act). That is why the heads are the cheapest place to win a point: nothing is fixed yet.
Agents agree the commercial headline: rent, term and incentives. The points that cost money later sit in the detail: break conditions, repair, service charge and who can assign. A review of the heads before you sign them is from £450.
Heads of terms drafted or reviewed from £450; a new lease or renewal settled to agreed form from £1,450; the whole transaction through to completion from £2,450. Each fee is fixed in writing before work starts, with no VAT.
A business tenancy for a term of years is protected unless it was contracted out before the term began, with the landlord's warning notice and the tenant's declaration done as the 2003 Order requires (Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, section 38A). The heads of terms should say which it will be, because it decides whether you have a right to renew.
We negotiate the terms and settle the documents to agreed form. Where the law requires a deed to be prepared or a Land Registry application made, an instructed authorised solicitor does that step.
No. Everything is handled in writing, by email or WhatsApp: you send the documents, the fee is confirmed in writing, and the work comes back in writing. Replies within the hour in business hours.
Send a brief outline of your matter. You will receive a personal reply from a solicitor, with a fixed-fee quote where the scope is clear. Payment is taken before work begins; every fee is fixed in writing first.
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