Are you approaching the end of a retail shop lease? Unsure of your obligations as a landlord or tenant?
In Part 1, I discussed some of the steps involved where a lease contains an option. I'm Shaun Briffa from Argon Law, and today I'll share what happens if your retail lease does not have an option to renew or extend.
When there is no option in the lease for the tenant to extend, the landlord must provide written notice to the tenant advising of whether they intend to offer an extension.
The landlord must give this notice to the tenant 6 to 12 months prior to the lease's expiry, if the lease is for longer than 12 months, or between 3 and 6 months where the lease is for less than 12 months.
The notice must contain the terms of the extension, and once provided to the tenant, the landlord cannot revoke the offer for a period of 1 month. If the landlord does not provide notice by the relevant date, the lease automatically extends for 6 months after the date on which the landlord provided notice. During this extended six-month period, the tenant may terminate the lease at any time by giving one month's written notice to the landlord.
As you will have gathered, leasing is a complex area, and I encourage you to get in touch with the helpful team here at Argon Law. We'd only be too happy to help.