Commercial property solicitors in Leicester

Commercial property solicitors in Leicester: leases, renewals and premises

Last updated 26 September 2026. General information, not legal advice.

Commercial property covers buying, selling, letting and financing premises used for business: shops, offices, warehouses, industrial units and mixed-use buildings.

Taking a lease

Before you sign, agree heads of terms covering the rent, length of lease, break clauses, rent reviews, repairing obligations, service charges and whether the lease is inside or outside the security of tenure provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. The lease then turns those into a legal document, often with a lot of additional detail that favours the landlord. A solicitor checks the landlord’s title, raises enquiries, negotiates the lease and explains what you’re committing to. It’s worth a surveyor looking at the building too, particularly if you’re taking on full repairing obligations.

Renewals and ending a lease

If your lease has 1954 Act protection, it doesn’t simply end on the expiry date, and there’s a formal process of notices for renewing or ending it. The deadlines in that process are strict. If you want to use a break clause, the conditions attached to it (such as paying all rent due or giving vacant possession) have to be followed exactly, or the break can fail.

Buying commercial property

Buying a commercial building involves similar steps to a house purchase but with more negotiation, more reliance on the buyer’s own investigations, and often VAT and tenancy issues. If there are existing tenants, their leases are a key part of what you’re buying.

Costs

Leases and purchases are often quoted as fixed fees for a defined scope, with an hourly rate for anything outside it. On a new lease, it is common for the tenant to be asked to pay the landlord’s legal costs, which is negotiable.

Common questions

Should I get a solicitor to look at a shop or office lease?

Yes. A commercial lease can commit you to rent, repairs and service charges for many years, and the tenant usually has much less protection than in a residential letting.

What are dilapidations?

Claims by a landlord at the end of a lease for the cost of putting the premises back into the condition the lease requires. They can be large, so it's worth understanding the repairing obligations before you sign.

Do I have the right to renew my business lease?

Many business tenants have a statutory right to a new lease under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, unless the lease was contracted out of that protection before it was signed. Your solicitor can check which applies.

This guide is general information about the law in England and Wales and isn't legal advice on your situation. Solicitor Leicester is a directory, not a law firm.