Business leases overview, May 2002
In a busy office, many law reform proposals can be safely put aside until such time as they come to fruition. Not so with business leases, where two major moves are well under way, each having been initiated by the government.
The first relates to the imminent reform of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. Don’t be fooled by the essentially procedural character of the expected measures: the game is, and will doubtless continue to be, one of manoeuvre and counter-manoeuvre. Access this trail at
The second move relates to practice rather than law – or more accurately the economically desirable use of standard legal devices. The perceived ogre in the eyes of the government and others is the inflexibilty of the UK commercial leasehold market. (For information about how things are done elsewhere, start with
Using the RICS as a secretariat, what the government has done is to present the profession with a code of practice for commercial leases, coupled with a warning that the code will cease to be voluntary if the profession fails to get into line over the next two years. For progress to date, see
Business leases overview, May 2002
In a busy office, many law reform proposals can be safely put aside until such time as they come to fruition. Not so with business leases, where two major moves are well under way, each having been initiated by the government.
The first relates to the imminent reform of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. Don’t be fooled by the essentially procedural character of the expected measures: the game is, and will doubtless continue to be, one of manoeuvre and counter-manoeuvre. Access this trail at PP 2002/105.
The second move relates to practice rather than law – or more accurately the economically desirable use of standard legal devices. The perceived ogre in the eyes of the government and others is the inflexibilty of the UK commercial leasehold market. (For information about how things are done elsewhere, start with PP 2002/110.)
Using the RICS as a secretariat, what the government has done is to present the profession with a code of practice for commercial leases, coupled with a warning that the code will cease to be voluntary if the profession fails to get into line over the next two years. For progress to date, see PP 2002/198.
