Leasing
Commercial and retail leasing lawyers in Richmond
Abbots Legal is a Richmond-based commercial leasing law firm advising landlords and tenants across Melbourne and Victoria on commercial leases, retail leases, lease reviews, negotiations, renewals, assignments and leasing disputes.
Before you sign
Almost everything in a lease is negotiable now and none of it later.
- Heads of Agreement for Commercial & Retail LeasesHeads of agreement lawyer in Melbourne and Richmond. Review your offer to lease before signing, identify what is binding, and protect your position in the final lease.
- Retail lease reviewIf the Retail Leases Act applies you have protections a commercial lease does not give you. We check which you are, and what the lease says. Fixed fee quoted first.
- Commercial lease reviewCommercial lease review by Richmond lawyers. We review office, warehouse and industrial leases, including rent, outgoings, guarantees, make-good and termination.
- Licence agreementsLicence agreement lawyers in Richmond and Melbourne. We draft and review commercial licence agreements and licences to occupy. Fixed fee quoted first.
Leases within leases
Occupation that sits under somebody else's lease, or on government land.
- Commercial SubleasesCommercial sublease lawyers in Richmond and Melbourne. We review sublease agreements, landlord consent and head lease risk. Fixed fee quoted first.
- Head leasesHead lease advice for landlords and tenants with occupiers underneath, covering consent, control, recovery and layered lease risks. Fixed fee quoted first.
- Crown leases and government landCrown and government land lease advice covering consent, permitted use, dealings and end-of-term obligations. Fixed fee quoted in writing before we start.
Changing or passing it on
Transferring a lease with a business, and recording changes properly.
- Commercial Lease AssignmentCommercial lease assignment lawyers in Melbourne and Richmond. Advice on business sales, landlord consent, assignment deeds and outgoing tenant liability.
- Varying a leaseChanging rent, term, premises or terms part-way through a lease. Recorded properly so it holds up later. Fixed fee quoted in writing before we start.
During the lease
The obligations that cost money part-way through, and at the end.
- Make good at the end of a leaseMake good advice for Victorian tenants and landlords, covering the required condition of premises, scope, evidence, negotiation and disputes. Fixed fee quoted first.
- Default notices: preparing them and responding to themDefault notice advice for Victorian landlords and tenants, including preparing a breach notice, responding and assessing the next steps. Fixed fee quoted first.
When it goes wrong
Money, repairs, options, termination, and recovering possession.
- Lease disputesLease dispute lawyers for Victorian landlords and tenants. Advice on rent, outgoings, repairs, options, make good and termination. Each stage quoted first.
- Lockouts and re-entryLease lockout and re-entry advice for Victorian landlords and tenants, including recovering possession, challenging a lockout and relief against forfeiture.
What we do
We act for tenants and landlords on retail and commercial leases in Victoria across the whole life of a lease, and the pages above are organised that way.
Before you sign — heads of agreement and offers to lease, the review and negotiation of the lease itself, and licence agreements where a lease is not the right instrument.
Leases within leases — subleases, head leases and the structures where one occupier sits underneath another, and leases over Crown and government land, which behave differently from ordinary commercial leases.
Changing or passing it on — assigning a lease when a business is sold, and documenting variations so that what was agreed still exists in two years' time.
During the lease — rent reviews, options, make-good obligations, and the default notices that arrive when something has gone wrong.
When it goes wrong — disputes over money, repairs, options and termination, and the urgent end of that: lockouts, re-entry and recovering possession.
Retail or commercial changes everything
A retail tenant has statutory protections that operate whatever the lease says. A commercial tenant does not: no disclosure statement before signing, no statutory minimum term, no bar on the landlord recovering land tax, no constraint on how rent reviews are drafted, and no statutory dispute process.
People assume an office or warehouse is automatically outside the Act. Usually that is right. Sometimes it is not — the test turns on the use of the premises. It is worth checking first, because being inside the Act is worth a great deal to a tenant.
The clauses that decide what a lease costs
Rent reviews. Fixed percentage increases compound. A review mechanism that looks modest in year one can produce a very different number in year seven.
Outgoings. What the landlord can recover is a matter of drafting rather than statute in a commercial lease, and can be extensive.
Make-good. The obligation to return the premises to a specified condition. For a tenant installing a substantial fit-out this is often the largest single liability in the lease, and it falls due at the end, when the business is already spending money moving.
What it costs
We quote a fixed fee in writing before any work begins. Review and negotiation are quoted separately, so the advice is useful even if you decide to handle the landlord yourself. The fee for each piece of work is set out on the relevant page below.
Frequently asked questions
Should I have the lease reviewed before I sign it?
Yes. Almost everything in a lease is negotiable before signature and almost nothing is negotiable afterwards, so the review is only worth what it can still change. If you have been given a date to sign by, tell us the date when you send the lease through.
Am I a retail tenant or a commercial tenant?
The test turns on the use of the premises rather than on what the building looks like, so some businesses that think of themselves as commercial are supplying goods or services in a way that brings them within the retail regime. It is worth checking before anything else, because the protections that follow are substantial.
Do you act for landlords as well as tenants?
Yes, though not on both sides of the same lease. Landlord work is usually drafting a lease or dealing with a tenant in default; tenant work is usually review, negotiation and disputes.
What do you need from me to start?
The lease or the draft, the disclosure statement if you have been given one, and the date you have been asked to sign by. We quote a fixed fee in writing before any work begins.
Tell us the date you have been asked to sign by.
Send us the leaseLet's start the conversation.
Tell us about your matter and we'll respond within one business day. Transparent fees: a written estimate before work begins, fixed-fee options where we can, and we tell you immediately if the scope changes.