Our client, a restauranteur, operated their restaurant business from a leasehold premises. The lease has ‘security of tenure’ which meant that our client was at the end of the contractual term entitled to seek a new lease from the landlord, subject to certain statutory grounds.
The landlord served a notice on our client offering to grant a new lease, but at a considerably higher rent. The client was not happy with the significant increase and so instructed us to act for them in negotiating a lower rent and in connection with agreement of the new lease. We engaged in communications with the landlord’s solicitors to attempt to agree matters.
As the time frame for agreeing a new lease was short, we advised our client that an application for a new lease should be made to court, and upon receipt of our client’s instructions to proceed, we prepared the necessary application and filed it at court.
Working with our client’s surveyor we negotiated a new rent that was acceptable to our client.
We also agreed the other terms to be included in the new lease, and a new rent deposit deed.
We had maintained communication with the court in relation to the application that had been filed, including dealing with court directions in the case, and notified the court of the agreement that had been reached and concluded the court proceedings by way of a consent order between our client and the landlord.
Our client now has a new lease on terms that are acceptable, and with this the certainty as to their occupation of their restaurant premises. They can now continue to focus on their successful restaurant business.
Landlord and Tenant CHANDER BAGGA
Landlord and Tenant DEE DOUGLAS
The client successfully agreed a new lease on acceptable terms.
