Consultation for new Code for Leasing Business Premises launched by RICS
A consultation has been published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) for a new code for leases of business Premises.
The ‘Code for Leasing Business Premises in England and Wales, 1st edition’ is intended to replace the current voluntary ‘Code for Lease Business Premises in England and Wales 2007’ (‘the 2007 Code’).
The draft statement which has been produced contains some mandatory requirements that any landlord and agents who are RICS members must comply with. The rest of the statement is a template for best practice and RICS accept that in some exceptional circumstances an RICS member may choose to depart from these recommendations.
The statement includes an obligation for the terms of the lease to be recorded within written heads of terms and specifies certain information which must be included.
Unlike the 2007 Code there will not be separate codes for landlords and occupiers with instead an intention to have one universal code. The thinking behind this is that it should assist with both parties accepting the code when negotiating lease terms. The consultation for the proposed Code closes on 5 May 2019.
Author: Paul Carpenter
