Landlord’s Works to a Property

When would a landlord be carrying out works to a property?

Prior to a lease being entered into – the landlord may be carrying out general improvement works to a property or the common areas after an acquisition or part of phased improvements. Alternatively, the parties may have agreed in the heads of terms that the landlord carries out certain improvements to the property.

During the term of the lease – the landlord may be required to carry our certain works to the property or the common areas where required to by legislation or because it wants to improve certain areas.

How are landlord’s works documented?

If a lease has not been entered into, a tenant will not want to commit themselves until they know that the landlord has carried out the works it has agreed to carry out. The parties can either agree to wait until the landlord’s works are completed before entering into a lease or more commonly, they can enter into an agreement for lease.

If the lease has already been entered into and the landlord needs to carry out works the wording of the lease should cover this situation.

What is an agreement for lease?

An agreement for lease is a document entered into by the parties that states that the parties will enter into a lease once certain conditions have been satisfied. In this situation, the agreement for lease would stipulate that the tenant and landlord would enter into a lease of the property once the landlord’s works have been completed.

The wording of the clauses covering the landlord’s works will be specific to each case, but typically they should include:

• Detailed specification of the works being carried out
• A timeframe in which the works will be carried out. Including, a long stop date which if the works haven’t been completed by that date the agreement for lease can be terminated
• A right for the tenant to inspect the works and raise any issues with the landlord about the quality of the works prior to the lease being entered into and a timeframe for the landlord to correct any issues
• Provision that once the works have been completed and agreed that the parties will sign and enter into the lease within a certain time period

The key for both parties is to ensure that the lease does not have to be entered into until they are happy that the works have been completed to the level required and they are ready to complete.

What if the landlord needs to carry out works during the term?

The lease will need to reserve rights for the landlord so that they are able to carry out any necessary works during the term. The tenant will want to ensure that any works carried out by the landlord do not affect the running of its business.

These need to be thought through carefully, for example, the landlord may be carrying out works to common areas but to do so needs access to the demised property. The tenant should also make sure that if any landlord’s works interfere with the running of their business the landlord has to take steps to mitigate this, for example, if works are being done to the access of the property the landlord should have to provide alternative access to the tenant.

If you need any advice on landlord’s works to a property, please contact a member of our commercial property law team in confidence here or on 02920 829 100 for a free initial call to see how they can help.

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