Commercial property

There are a number of reasons why disagreements about commercial property arise. The two most common areas of dispute typically concern continued occupation of the property and its condition. For example, if you’re a landlord and you want your tenant to leave, you must follow the correct legal procedures, including sending the correct written notices to your tenant and complying with legally imposed time-frames. By contrast, if you’re a business tenant and you want to extend your commercial lease and remain in a property, there are set procedures that you’ll need to follow as well – ensuring that you don’t undermine any legal rights that your lease and/or the law provides to you.

When it comes to the condition of a property, both landlords and tenants typically have obligations to ensure that the property is looked after and remains in a good state of repair. But even despite the wording of lease terms, when a property falls into disrepair, disagreements often arise about who is responsible for putting things right and when or how repairs should take place. More often than not, the complaining party is the commercial landlord whose objective is to force the tenant to carry out repairs promptly and thoroughly. But it can also be the case that the tenant is unhappy about the landlord’s lack of investment in a property. In either event, if a commercial property is in disrepair there will need to be an analysis of what should be done to rectify the problem and who needs to do that.

Landlord and tenant disagreements aren’t the only possible disputes concerning property. Owners of commercial properties may find themselves involved in property-related disputes with neighbours, for example. Typically, these types of disagreement concern the boundaries of both properties or certain legal rights connected to one of the properties, such as rights of way or rights to light.

Whether you’re a commercial landlord or tenant, in this section you‘ll find guidance and documents to help you to understand the key legal issues involved in a range of other commercial property disputes.

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The content on this website has been prepared by Markel Law LLP and it’s specified partners. It’s intended as guidance only and not to be regarded as a substitute for consultation with one of our solicitors or experts, since every case will ultimately turn on its own particular facts and circumstances. We recommend that you use our materials as your starting point and be aware that you sometimes have to follow a set procedure before taking any action, especially in an employment context. If you are in any doubt, we’d suggest that you get in touch with us and we’ll talk you through your options on how to get the right legal advice.