Thursday 13 April 2017

What is the Law in Your Life?

Five things to know about standardisation in Commercial Leasing

1. The concept of standardisation is well-known to all these days and legal precedents or standard documentation is no different. The Property Standardisation Group (PSG) has developed a suite of templates for use in property transactions in Scotland which have been well-received. See www.psglegal.co.uk.

2. The issue of a Model Commercial Lease was first mooted in England and Wales and a template was introduced in 2014 by the British Property Federation. That template met with a muted response initially but and it has proven to be useful. The PSG have now introduced a Model Commercial Lease for use in a larger scale office development.

3.  As with all styles, care must be taken to ensure that it fits the circumstances of a particular letting and a knowledge of the underlying law is essential.

4.  The Model Commercial Lease may be capable of being used "as is" but it is likely to also be of assistance in giving solicitors and their clients examples of different types of clauses which may be adapted to suit individual circumstances.

5.  The aim of templates, of course, is to seek to speed up the process of concluding deals. This may or may not happen but the new Model Commercial Lease is a step in the right direction.