Quick one regarding lease assignment

A question about : Quick one regarding lease assignment

I am hoping to sell my business. I have a full repairing lease which I want to reassign to buyer. I have always maintained inside the building and landlord outside and major things like boiler and electrics. My buyer will not want to take on the lease as our understanding is not written down. Is there a way round this without huge cost of solicitors? This could be a dealbreaker on the sale. LL does not want to change wording of the lease. Help please!

Best answers:

• Might the 'huge cost' of solicitors not be a lot less than either losing the sale, or getting this wrong? Especially if you only find out it's gone wrong a couple of years down the line ...
• Sorry it was the LL who said he did not want to pay soliciotors. He has since spoken to his and said he will not change existing lease. Is there a way of adding something to it? Ive read about something called Schedule of condition?
• What is your "understanding" with the LL?
• It's pretty much essential that your buyer takes on the lease if the LL agrees which he doesn't have to if your buyer is higher risk than you.
  You should realise that if the buyer doesn't take on the lease then you would have to sublet to him and you would need the sublet to be exactly the same terms as the original or you become liable for anything negotiated out of the sub lease.
  The LL does not and it's not in his best interests to make any alterations to the lease that would weaken his position.
  If the buyer doesn't want to take on the lease then you really need to find a new buyer, taking on the lease is pretty much a given when taking over a new business or a sublet at the same terms very least. Remember though with a sublet you still pay the LL whether your new buyer pays you or not, you really do need legal advice.
• On top of what Bris says, the LL may be willing to negotiate if security is offered from the buyer.
  I offered a PG when we took on the lease for the current office unit about 3 years ago, and it was accepted on those terms. I know the seller had no PG, but had also fallen short with the rent before (we were buying the lease on the unit, not the sellers business), so this put their mind at ease significantly.
• Looking at it from the other end, the buyer can't be sure he's not signing a lease obliging him to complete lots of expensive repairs which you could be selling the business to escape from. You could still a sublease, but would suggest taking legal advice and working out a premium for you insuring the major repairs if the freeholder doesn't carry on in the same vein.
  Similarly, by the way, you'd be up the creek if the freeholder sold the property and the buyer (rightly) went by the letter of the contracts.
• You have to ask yourself "what's in it for the LL"? Why should the LL accept incurring costs or reducing his strong position for your benefit? At the end of the day, "you" are holding the current lease, including it's liabilities. If "you" want to transfer it, then it's a matter between you and the buyer as to who is liable for what. Unless the LL agrees to a change, it's you he'll come after for future rents, maintaining the property, and it being in the right state and condition when it's finally handed back to the LL. You should be able to sub-let, but if the buyer doesn't abide by the terms of the lease, it's you who the LL will come after. You will be the one to benefit from finding a buyer to take it over, you will be the one to benefit if the LL agrees to removing your obligation to keep it maintained, so really, the legal fees etc for all parties are down to you I'm afraid.
• Thank you for all the replies. Just to update. LL states that if I agree to pay a certain amount for each year I have been there towards depreciation (not settled on an amount yet) then the lease can transfer and the new person starts with their own schedule of condition. I realise now that I should have had a schedule of conditon when I took the lease, but was too naive in such matters. Does anyone know how this depreciation figure would be calculated? Any guess of the amount?
• It is going to cost me Ј500 pa for 'depreciation'. Ј2000 in all. Should I cut and run?
• Are you saying that the lease is in your own name, then?
• Yes it's my business. My name and my husband in lease. Does that make a difference?
• Yes I think he knows he has upper hand. I was just wondering whether Ј500 pa is a fair amount ? I am not sure where this figure comes from.
• Thank you I needed to hear someone say that because it's what I was thinking. I don't want new person to think I'm in big argument with llord. Might put them off. And I don't think I'll win.
• And to be fair, it could have been a whole lot more than Ј500 pa ... and presumably the premises were always in reasonable repair. As paddy says, it's just a number the LL thinks he can get you to pay.
  DH is involved in a charity where they wanted to move into better premises. There was a schedule of condition drawn up at the beginning of the lease, and that condition was pretty dire. But the rent was low, so the charity did a lot of work to make the premises usable - and STILL the landlord wanted to charge a huge amount at the end of the lease for 'repairs'. Some hard bargaining went on there ...