Commercial Property Archives | Middletons Solicitors

Get to know Middletons Solicitors

1st May 2017 | Commercial Property, Family Matters

Who are Middletons Solicitors? What do they do? With more than 50 years experience, Middletons Solicitors provide the highest standard of advice and service in all practice areas. Originally established as Middleton & Upsall in 1962, by Eustace Middleton and Michael Upsall, Middletons Solicitors has gone through multiple changes to become Middletons. In 2006, the firm acquired another local firm - Keith A Pearce - and opened an office in Westbury in 2010. Eventually, in 2012,...

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The importance of a landlord’s address when demanding rent

5th July 2016 | Commercial Property

Landlords need to ensure they include their name and address when sending demands for rent to tenants. Failure to do so could result in tenants refusing to pay, as happened in a recent case that ended in legal proceedings. It involved a landlord who asked his agent to serve demands for payment of outstanding service charges. The address given on the demand was the business address of the agent. The case went before a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal which concluded that the charges were...

New tenant was not entitled to exercise Break Clause

20th June 2016 | Commercial Property

Businesses need to take great care when taking over a lease on commercial property from another firm. They may find that they don’t automatically inherit all the entitlements that were granted to the original leaseholder. The issue arose recently in a case involving a company called Gemini Press Ltd. It took over a lease which had originally been assigned to a firm called Ashdown. The original lease provided the tenant with several entitlements including the right to exercise a break...

Tenant wins dispute with landlords over exercising break clause

13th June 2016 | Commercial Property

A commercial tenant has won a dispute over exercising a break clause even though it served notice to an out-of-date address. The case involved four landlords who were the trustees of a retirement scheme that owned the freehold of a large building. Three floors in the building were let to a commercial tenant on a 10-year lease from July 2010. After three years, the tenant exercised a break clause by serving notices by recorded delivery on each of the individual landlords at the business...

Landlord loses control of his properties over repair failures

25th April 2016 | Commercial Property

A landlord loses control of his properties due to his failure to carry out repairs properly. The case involved a large building comprising of a number of flats and one commercial unit. The tenants considered that the property was in serious disrepair, causing safety issues. When the landlord failed to bring the building up to the required standard, they applied for a management order under the Landlord and Tenant Act. The First-Tier Tribunal found in their favour. It criticised the...

Right to Rent checks on new tenants come into effect

29th February 2016 | Commercial Property

Landlords in England now have to carry out Right to Rent checks on potential tenants to make sure they are entitled to stay in the UK. The new regulations came into force on 1 February. They will affect you if you are a private landlord, have a lodger, are sub-letting a property or are an agent appointed by a landlord to carry out right to rent checks. If you come under any of these categories then you will need to: • Check adult tenants will live in the property as their only or...

10 Things You Need To Know When Leasing A Commercial Property

18th February 2016 | Commercial Property

If you have a commercial property and you are going to lease it to a business, there are a number of things you will need to consider. There is a Landlord Code which has been developed following discussions by landlords, tenants and government representatives too. It can be a useful starting place for both tenants and landlords to use when negotiating a lease or a lease renewal. However, to ensure that there is proper legal protection in place for both parties, it is important to use a...

How the new right to rent checks will affect landlords

23rd November 2015 | Commercial Property

The Home Office has released details of how landlords will be expected to carry out right to rent checks to make sure tenants are entitled to be in the UK. From 1 February 2016, you will be affected if you are a private landlord, have a lodger, are sub-letting a property or are an agent appointed by a landlord to carry out right to rent checks. If you come under any of these categories then you will need to: • Check adult tenants will live in the property as their only or main...

Tenancy deposit error prevents landlord repossessing property

3rd February 2015 | Commercial Property

A landlord has been prevented from serving a possession notice because the tenant’s deposit had not been placed in an authorised protection scheme. This was in spite of the fact that that the deposit had been paid before the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) regulations came into force. The case involved a tenant who had started a tenancy in 2002 and paid a deposit. The tenancy was renewed in 2005. This was after the TDS regulations were introduced. However, the landlord didn’t place the...

Commercial tenant not entitled to refund on prepaid rent

3rd November 2014 | Commercial Property

Commercial Tenant Not Entitled To Prepaid Rent Refund | Middletons The Court of Appeal has ruled that a commercial tenant was not entitled to a refund of prepaid sums after exercising a release clause. The tenant had a commercial lease which was due to expire in 2018. The terms included a break clause that offered the tenant the option of terminating the lease in either January 2012 or January 2016. The tenant exercised the clause at the first opportunity and paid the basic rent for...

Topic: Commercial Property