Cafe lease - rubbish equipment

[Jochef]

Hi
I wondered if anyone could help with some advice or point me in the right direction

My husband and I took a 5 year lease on a Cafe in Cumbria in March 2024.

Long story short - the equipment is simply not up to scratch and it’s very difficult to run the business how we would like to because of the equipment.

The landlord has replaced the dishwasher - that took a year, and recently the oven died, which we had to pay to have repaired. I’ve paid to have the fridge fixed as it was running hot and we’ve bought a lot of new equipment ourselves.

He has offered to ‘go halves’ with us on anything we want to buy - which, obviously we’re not prepared to do.

We have rent arrears now, which I am aiming to clear by mid November.

The thought of staying here for another 3 years makes us feel very miserable.

The business is good, we get cracking reviews and have a good local regular clientele, however, we are finding the landlord very difficult.

Does anyone know how we stand legally ? Sadly we’ve not documented anything, though there is a storeroom with a lot of broken kitchen appliances in it…..

The idea of a tenant in arrears who has already purchased equipment with no idea what the contract stipulates re LL financial responsibility - having the audacity to think the LL should reimburse them? Well, I imagine this LL will be extricating himself from the contract as soon as possible

You have said a few times that the lease doesn't say anything about equipment provision, and yet you have reproduced the part of the lease where that is covered. The equipment that was on the premises when you took over belongs to the landlord. You are jointly responsible with the landlord for insuring it. You are responsible for repairing it. You are also responsible for replacing it if it is unrepairable. If the lease doesn't say anything else, it is up to you to provide any other equipment you want. So, if there was no coffee machine on the premises and you want one, you have to pay for it.

You complain about getting charged for months when you weren't there and for January when you were closed. However, you are clearly responsible for any power usage for the premises regardless of whether you are there or not, and regardless of whether you are open. Rent is also due regardless of whether you are open.

Your landlord has offered to go halves with you on new equipment, so he is willing to go above and beyond. He doesn't have to pay anything towards equipment at all. But you have rejected his offer, apparently believing that he should provide it all for you. Unless the lease says he is responsible for providing any equipment you believe you need (which is highly unlikely), he does not have to pay a single penny towards replacing the existing equipment or adding new equipment.

You regard him as crafty, but you have not given any evidence to suggest that he is. Everything you have said suggests he is being very generous with you.

The problem is that you have entered into a lease without properly understanding it, and you don't appear to understand how to run a business. I'm sure your cafe produces good food, but there is a lot more to running a successful business than that. You need to budget properly and control your cash flow.

As others have said, you need to speak to a lawyer to get an explanation of the lease and understand what you have signed. I would also suggest that you need to get yourself on a business startup course so that you can learn how to run a business. If you are still in your first year of trading, the government funds courses that will help you.

'..to keep equipment in good repair and working condition and to replace if it’s unfixable with similar value and quality..'

Who does it say is meant to do this, you or landlord?