Introduction
The commercial property team has experience and knowledge of a wide variety of business sectors, including:
- Professional
- Health care
- Office
- Retail and industrial
- Pensions
- Portfolio management
- Licensed premises
- Development
Our first aim is to understand your requirements and your business. We will get to know what you want and ensure we provide realistic and workable solutions with practical advice.
Our commercial and innovative approach means that our clients can be assured of sound legal advice within a commercially focused service.
Legal Audit
MorrAudit has been developed for businesses of all sizes to ensure that any issues are highlighted before they escalate and become expensive to resolve. The audit is a preventative measure and is a health check for the company.
For further information, or if you would like a quote for a transaction, please contact:
Edward Moseley, Head of Commercial Property.
Return to topBusiness property
- Leases of premises for professional practices
- Leases of offices, retail and industrial premises
- Landlord and tenant property management issues, assignments, sub leases and licences
- Freehold and leasehold acquisitions and disposals (see Investment property)
- Mixed business and residential property transactions (see Investment property)
We can help in all manner of scenarios, for example:
A lease can be one of the largest items of expenditure for a tenant’s business, however having a correctly prepared lease is crucial in making a commercial property a sound investment for a landlord.
Knowing the finer details of amending a commercial lease can make the difference between having a cumbersome asset and having a profitable site for your business.
We act for landlords in managing the leasehold aspects of their commercial property portfolios. The work involves granting leases, licences, deeds of variation, lease renewals and acting for landlords upon assignment of leases. Additionally, we frequently act for tenants in connection with this type of work.
We also act for tenants who are taking on new leases or purchasing existing leases from outgoing tenants.
Our expertise includes drafting and negotiating complex rent review provisions, service charge provisions and break clauses, among other areas.
The types of letting we regularly deal with include offices, retail units, restaurants, units on industrial estates and warehouses, units in shopping centres, medical centres and dental surgeries.
Investment property
- Freehold and leasehold acquisitions and disposals
- Mixed business and residential property transactions
- Pension scheme property (eg SIPPs, SSASs) and lease management
- Leases of portfolio property – office, retail and industrial premises
- Reversions and ground rents – acquisitions and disposals
- Owner-occupied premises and going concerns – acquisitions and disposals
Morrisons have long experience in acting for purchasers and sellers of freehold property from owner-managed business to property investors, PLCs and private trusts. This work is often tied in with the secured lending work outlined in the Secured lending section below.
We manage all aspects of property portfolios for our clients, from acting for them on the purchase of investment property to representing them on the grant of leases of that property.
Development
- Commercial and residential
- Site assembly
- Options
- Conditional contracts
- Pre-emptions/rights of first refusal
- Development agreements
- Planning and other statutory agreements
- Infrastructure agreements
- Joint ventures
- Collaboration agreements
- Funding agreements
- Overage and uplift agreements
- Environmental licences
- Building contracts and associated appointments, collateral warranties and other ancillary documentation
Our lawyers have extensive experience in dealing with development properties. The work we regularly undertake includes handling option agreements, overage agreements, collateral warranties and rights to third party notices. Our experience in dealing with developers includes substantial involvement with residential development and plot sales.
Secured Lending
- Security agreements and arrangements
- Legal mortgages and charges – freehold and leasehold
- Funding agreements
We regularly work with a number of institutional and corporate lenders such as Barclays Bank Plc, National Westminster Bank Plc, Lloyds TSB Plc and Close Brothers. We are also on the panels of Northern Bank plc and Handelsbanken and we have been approved as a non-panel firm for dealing with transactions for Clydesdale Bank plc.
As part of our secured lending service, we also advise borrowers regarding banks’ powers under relating to any legal charge to which the loan and the property will be subject.
Company commercial and corporate support
- Property issues on asset and share sales and purchases
- Property warranties
- Funder report and certification process
- Liquidation, restructuring and distress sales
Morrisons has a strong understanding of the commercial property assets of a business that is subject to a sale. It is an area that can significantly impact upon the value of the business.
We work closely with our Corporate & Commercial department to ensure that all commercial property assets are correctly reported upon when a client is buying or selling a new business.
These activities tie closely in with the merger and acquisition (M&A) work conducted by the Corporate & Commercial department at Morrisons.
The Commercial property department is also experienced in dealing with the property aspects of a company restructure and in acting for liquidators, administrators and receivers.
Recent transactional highlights
We acted for a medical company in the purchase of a call centre for £2.15m for change of use and conversion to a specialist clinic for the treatment of infertility. We advised the client on all aspects of the transaction, including its loan facility for the acquisition and refurbishment of the property.
We recently assisted the Corporate & Commercial department in the sale of a medium-sized regional estate agency. The work involved the assignment of nine leasehold properties.
