Real Estate & Construction

Lease Agreements

Residential and commercial leases — drafted to be enforceable, registered where the term requires it, and exited without forfeiting more than the contract truly demands.

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Tell us the situation and we will tell you what we think you should do — and what it will cost.

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Landlords letting residential or commercial premises
Tenants committing to a long residential stay
Businesses taking shop, office or restaurant premises
Foreign lessees using a registered long lease as their tenure

Lease drafting and review, for either side of the table

Registration of leases over three years at the Land Office

Renewal options drafted for what they can and cannot promise

Deposits, dilapidations and the return conditions

Termination, default and eviction terms

Fit-out, subletting and business-transfer provisions for commercial leases

Confirm the commercial terms and which side we act for
Check the lessor’s title and authority to let
Draft or mark up the lease and negotiate the open points
Document the handover condition of the premises
Register the lease at the Land Office where the term requires
Diary the renewal, review and notice dates

Documents to prepare

Copy of the title deed and the lessor’s ID or company documents
The draft lease or the current signed lease
Plans or a description of the leased premises
Agreed rent, deposit and term details
For registration — the parties’ documents the Land Office requires

An unregistered lease is enforceable only for three years, however long the paper says. Registration at the Land Office is what makes the full term a real right — including against a new owner if the property is sold. For long leases, the registration is the protection.

Thirty years is the registrable maximum for a lease term. A promise to renew is a contractual obligation on today’s lessor, not a registered right against tomorrow’s owner — so “30+30+30” is worth exactly as much as the person promising it when the time comes. We draft renewals honestly for what they are.

Within the term, the contract governs — rent rises and early termination need a clause that permits them. Regulated residential lettings also carry consumer-protection rules on deposits and termination that override harsher contract terms. Which regime applies to your lease is checked, not assumed.

A registered lease binds the new owner for its registered term. An unregistered one is protected only within the three-year window. This is the practical reason we push registration for any lease you cannot afford to lose.

What the contract allows, applied to the condition actually documented at handover. A dated move-in condition report with photographs is the cheapest dispute-prevention tool in the whole lease — we build it into the process on either side.

Lawyers for this matter

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