Our News page provides you with a snapshot of industry-related and legal developments which are likely to be of interest to landlords and managing agents of commercial property.
17 May 2010 – Crains Manchester features Avi Barr in its “Rising Star” column following his recent appointment as a Partner at Read Roper and Read. To see the article, click here
06 May 2010 – Read Roper and Read has appointed Avi Barr as a Partner. He joins Andrew Fairlie and Andrew Kay in the partnership. Andrew Kay, the firm’s Senior Partner said, “We recognise the tremendous enthusiasm and capabilities that Avi has brought to the firm. His Leases for Landlords concept has enabled the firm to grow its client base significantly despite the testing economic climate with its focus on offering a unique service for commercial landlords.” The Leases for Landlords department has also recently appointed Craig Mullen, a three-year qualified commercial property solicitor with expertise in commercial landlord and tenant work. Craig was formerly at the Leeds office of national law firm, Cobbetts.
19 February 2010 – Leases for Landlords has just produced its inaugural legal update. You can click here to download your copy. Topics include claiming arrears from the administrator of an insolvent tenant, EPCs on assignments and underlettings and the possibility of achieving double rent from an unwelcome tenant.
11 January 2010 – Head of Leases for Landlords, Avi Barr, was featured in an article in today’s’ “Crains Manchester Business” discussing the length of time it is taking administrators to divest themselves of the First Quench portfolio of properties. First Quench entered administration at the end of October 2009 and several of our clients are still awaiting the return of their properties. To read the full article click here.
04 January 2010 – Leases for Landlords is celebrating its first birthday by upgrading the complimentary services we offer our clients. The main highlights are the introduction of a multiple user option and our automated updates service. The multiple user facility is designed for organisations with a number of people who wish to be able to access our portal or receive our emails or text message services to be kept fully up to date. It will assist those clients who work closely with their agents and wish them to be kept fully updated. We also now offer an automated reminder service which will send you (or any other contacts you wish to include) an email in advance of key dates in the life cycle of a lease or licence arrangement – be it a break clause, rent review date or the end of a lease. Although this service cannot replace your own management systems, it will no doubt prove to be a helpful backup for our clients.
23 August 2009 – Avi Barr, head of Leases for Landlords has been approached by the producers of the Parliamentary Yearbook to provide some editorial comment. The Parliamentary Yearbook is referred to in Parliamentary debates and is supplied to members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords as well as key-industry figures. The focus of this year’s handbook is urban regeneration and renewal and the producers are keen to obtain a commercial property perspective that we can offer as a result of our unique focus on driving forward the commercial property letting market from a legal standpoint.
27 July 2009 – Leading auction finance provider, Auction Finance has provided Leases for Landlords with prominent coverage in its latest newsletter. The current climate sees banks reluctant to lend against auction purchases. However, evidence shows that auction sales are more than holding their own. In fact Auction Finance report an increase of 4.9% for lots sold in June 2009 as compared to June last year. The buoyancy in this particular market has allowed Auction Finance, under Director Chris Baguley, to consolidate its position in this particular sector. Leases for Landlords is keen to assist landlords buying commercial property at auction in ensuring that empty properties become income producing ones as quickly as possible. To read the latest Auction Finance newsletter, please click here.
30 June 2009 – According to Property Consultants Lambert Smith Hampton, Manchester may benefit from its more affordable office space in comparison to London and the South East. LSH has reported increased enquiries especially for smaller leasehold properties. “Leases for Landlords” has also noticed increased demand in the North West with new instructions for this region in June 2009 increasing by 28% from the April 2009 figures.
23 April 2009 - Zurich, the insurer which provides insurance to a number of commercial property firms has recently carried out a review of problems arising from commercial break clauses. We would always recommend handing any break notice which you receive as a landlord, to your solicitor for review. Generally, the law requires the tenant to comply absolutely with any conditions relating to exercising the break clause which are contained in the lease. In one noted case the Court ruled that a tenant was unable to exercise a break clause. The lease required the tenant to redecorate with three coats of paint – the tenant applied two. By closely examining the lease and any break notice, landlords can improve their bargaining position where any aspect of the procedure has not been followed by the tenant.
9 March 2009 – According to a recent survey by the Law Society, only 9% of law firms use text messaging in some form to contact clients. Leases for Landlords is proud to be part of this select group which appreciates the need to keep clients up to date and that is why we have now launched our SMS update services for all clients. Clients can choose how regularly to receive the SMS updates; every step or just key stages of a transaction – or not at all. And here’s another astonishing statistic – only one legal service in the country provides an instant online quotation system, secure online document archiving, e-mail updates and an online portal with up to the minute information…. Need we say more?
12 February 2009 - A recent case in the Court of Appeal has highlighted the dangers of leases being improperly excluded from the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. The relevant provisions exclude the tenant’s right to remain at the property at the end of the lease and the contracting out procedure is widely used by landlords. In that particular case, the definition of the “Term” of the lease lacked sufficient certainty so as to allow the lease to be contracted out and the tenant was therefore entitled to a renewal lease against the landlord’s wishes. Leases for Landlords will shortly be publishing a User Guide to assist landlords with understanding and utilising the contracting out procedure.
1 February 2009 – The High Court has recently considered the issue of “virtual assignments”. A "virtual assignment" is an arrangement by which all the economic benefits and burdens of a lease are transferred to a third party without a formal assignment of the leasehold interest. They are likely to relevant in situations where the particular assignment is one which the tenant does not believe the Landlord will consent to for a genuine reason (for example, concerns about the covenant strength of the incoming tenant). The High Court ruled that the assignment was a breach the standard clause found in most leases, preventing parting or sharing possession of the premises. The decision may still be appealed, although in the meantime Leases for Landlords’ leases will, where appropriate include appropriate wording to prevent virtual assignments. If you do require any further information please feel free to contact us.
18 January 2009 – From the gloom comes a story of success – and a desirable tenant looking to expand. According to Property Week, Cash Converters, which sells pre-owned and nearly new goods, has just opened its 130th store in the UK. It aims to have more than 145 stores trading in the UK by the end of 2009. Cash Converters said it had benefited from double figure percentage increases sales growth for the last seven years, and a noticeable acceleration in growth during the last two years.
11 January 2009 – According to a report produced by commercial agents, Lambert Smith Hampton, investors still see Manchester as a top business location. A million square feet of office space was let in Manchester during the last 12 months despite the global economic crisis, according to property researchers. This figure is only slightly below the record figure achieved in 2007.
On a similarly upbeat note, the city's inward investment agency MIDAS, reports that overseas companies with offices in Manchester expect to continue to grow in Manchester and around a fifth are looking for extra offices or factories. Overall, companies in finance, banking, retail and manufacturing were the most likely to be looking for more space, with 44 per cent expecting to move.
10 January 2009 – Could foreign buyers provide a much needed stimulus to the commercial property market? According to the Financial Times, foreign buyers, taking advantage of price falls and the weak pound, are flooding the London property market.
Savills’ estate agents report a sharp increase in the number of overseas buyers and inquiries. The recent cuts in the base rate are expected to boost demand further and, according to Savills, the last interest rate cut generated an almost immediate surge in international inquiries.
7 January 2009 – Leases for Landlords, which has recently been set up as a department within Read Roper and Read Solicitors, is now fully operational and looking forward to assisting landlords of commercial property with their leases and other tenant-related matters.
2 January 2009 – Hammerson, whose portfolio of managed shopping centres includes the Bullring in Birmingham and the Oracle in Reading, has reported an increased footfall for the Christmas trading period as compared to this time last year (Source – Property Week).
Leases for Landlords wishes everybody a happy and successful 2009
30 December 2008 – Is the Market bottoming out? Well, according to the Sunday newspapers, John Caudwell the founder of Phones4U seems to think so. Apparently Caudwell has invested 80 million pounds of his own money into commercial property across Britain over the last three months. It remains to be seen if this confidence in the market has a knock on effect for other investors.
