calling all solicitors!!!!!

[greedygreedyguzzler]

just wanted some free advice really!!!

i am a self employed part time chiropractor. i have just commited to a new lease on some premises and was hoping to be able to have a couple of other self employed therapists working from the premises when i am not there. i was going to take a percentage of their earnings and from the landlord point of view i would be solely responsible for the rent and condition of the premises.

he has said there are some problems with this and i wondered how i could get around them?

problem is i really need the income from the other therapists so i can make it worth my while.

thank you anyone!!

What did he say were the exact problems? Insurance? This, in theory, is no different to a hairdresser renting a chair in a salon.

Presumably the least says you're not allowed to do it. If that's so why did you sign it knowing you were going to have others in there?
If he will agree to it then all you need to do is get him to agree that in writing.

YOu need to look at exactly what the clause in the lease says about who can use the premises and perhaps paste it here. For example it proably lets you have employees so you could take these others ones on yoru payroll but that would be a massive hassle for you adn some expense.

thats what a few people have used as an example, the hairdresser thing. he hasnt said what the problem is yet, i am going to discuss it with him next week. what would the insurance problem be? we all have professional indemnity insurance

if you are leasing it then there is presumably something that says you are not allowed to sub-let.

just like if you rent a house you're often not allowed to then rent rooms out within that house.

You need to sub let the premises, which in itself is not a problem you just need a sub lease. However, there is probably a clause in your lease prohibiting subletting or requiring reasonable consent from your landlord for subletting.

It might be that your lease is already a sub lease, in which your landlord might have limited powers of sub letting. Are you in a lock up unit or a room within a larger building?

You would need to check your lease - if you find the relevant clause happy to interpret (as a commercial prop solicitor - though not practiced for 5 years - hurrah).

The other thing you could do is provide a licence to other practioners - this however does not provide security of tenure and is a bit of a potential legal minefield.

Clear as mud no doubt

the lease says ' the lease will have no alienation provisions i.e. the tennant will have no rights to assign or sublet'

i queried this with the landlord and explained that i wanted other people working there and and he said he was sure we could get round it somehow. i havent actually signed the lease because i am awaiting a change of use to be approved. but i have agreed to it in writing.

it is a few rooms within a larger building

If you haven't signed it you are not bound by it probably. You need him to realise that you will not take up the least unless you can sublet (or as soenoe who knows about property law more than I do above says some kind of licence or permissino for the others to come in and use the premises) but if as said above this will put him in breach of his lease he just may not be allowed to do it.

why is everything so complicated hey!! its taken me ages to find these premises and i will be gutted if i cant have them.

Your lease does not allow you to sublet. It could be that he is not the freeholder and is himself a tenant, so you would already be a sub tenant.

Also you cannot sell it on - this means that if you stuck with the lease for the entire term.
How long is the lease? Do you have the right to break? Are there any rent reviews?

lease is 3 years with 'no break provisions for either party'

But you are not sub-letting per se.

I think that allowing someone to use the premises would be interpreted as sub letting - especially if it was every wednesday etc..

I do see your point and am trying to use my rusty property brain.

You also need a contract with the other practioners, because if they left the hot wax on and burnt the building down through negligence then you would be liable not them. Also you need to make sure that they pay what they owe you.

I think it some sort of licence, not a licence to occupy but a licence to use.

If you are going to base your business on this model you need to get something in writing from your landlord. A legal contract which is "signed as a deed" by the directors if it is a company or the individual. Because otherwise, he changes his mind and you are stuck with a three year lease.

Also check whether he is the freeholder - easily done do a land registry search with the land registry.
www.landregistry.gov.uk/

what would this licence involve then? i dont know anything sorry!

Well hard to advise you but I think that you need to:

• make a financial decision whether or not you can afford the rent on your own and make a commitment to three years

• if not, do not rely on assurances from your landlord that this will be ok and you can have an informal arrangement. Something needs to be in writing, some sort of written contract. It is impossible to make a verbal contract when you are dealing with property law.

• if he is unwilling or unable to enter into such a contract then it could be he is not the freeholder and unable to do so. Ask him if he is the freeholder!

• the cost of entering into such a licence will be yours and you will need to pay his and your solicitors costs. Though it should not be a complicated document get a solicitor.

• if he will not provide a written document then my advice if I was still a solicitor would not be to sign.

Good luck