David Sullivan MRAeS, Director
When you own a commercial property and you lease it out, it is important that you keep an eye on what is happening at your property to ensure that your tenants are behaving themselves and treating your property with respect. Thousands of pounds of damage can be caused in a short period of time, so it is worth keeping on top of what is happening at your commercial property.
If you discover that your tenants are behaving in an unacceptable way, whilst this is sure to frustrate you, it is vital that you remain calm and deal with the situation in a professional manner.
Make sure that you visit the property regularly and ensure that you adhere to 24 hours’ notice as required. In addition, you should talk to neighbouring properties to see if they have experienced any issues with your tenants.
Check the lease for information about what happens where you have a dispute with your tenants. Your solicitor should have included these details when they prepared it for you which will place you in a more favourable position. If your lease does not contain any information about dispute resolution or clarify the position of the dispute, you should make sure that the lease agreement is amended before your next tenant occupies the building.
If the dispute relates to non-payment of rent, make sure that they are not withholding rent because of an issue at the property that has not been addressed. If this is the case, you should be able to resolve the dispute quickly. If not, be prepared to negotiate with them about clearing the backlog of rent and don’t leave it too long to discuss this issue with them.
Finally, seeking advice from an experienced commercial property lawyer should help you to clarify where you stand, what rights your tenant has and how you can try to resolve the dispute without causing too many problems.
For more information about this article or any aspect of our business and personal legal solutions, please contact David Sullivan on +44 (0) 28 9077 4500
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