Metre Squared Interiors

To break or not to break

2010-07-02T09:33:00.000+01:00

With the present economic climate many tenants are looking to get out of their current commercial office lease by using their break clause provision, but with landlords not looking to be left holding empty stock they are becoming more & more stringent on the terms of your original lease being adhered to, the following will help you to avoid some of those nasty traps often used to tie you into another term and make office relocation a non starter.

Check your lease and read the terms. This sounds obvious but the amount of tenants that don’t is amazing, above all make sure all the conditions attached to the break option are met in order to successfully end your lease.

1. Notice to vacate. You must give the correct period of notice. One day too short and you will not be able to end the lease.

2. Break date. You must ensure you have calculated the break date correctly. Hopefully your lease will specify an actual date but it may refer to an anniversary of the start of the term.

3. Method of service. Check the lease to make sure you serve the notice by the correct method. Email is unlikely to be valid. You should keep a record of when you serve the notice and it is sensible to ask the landlord to acknowledge receipt.

4. Comply with lease covenants. If required, you must ensure that you have complied with all the obligations in the lease both when you serve the notice and on the break date. Strict compliance is necessary. If you are required to decorate the property in the last year of the term you must decorate even if you only decorated last year.

5. Dilapidations You are required under the terms of your lease to strip out and remove anything from the demise that was not there when you moved in so for instance office partitions, data cabling, alarms & office furniture in fact anything that you have installed in your office fit out.

6. Vacant possession. No rubbish should be left and you must not be occupying the property on the break date.

7. Payment of rent and other sums. You need to ensure that you pay all sums required. This may include insurance and service charge payments as well as rent.

8. Ask a surveyor. If the lease is full repairing and requires reinstatement of alterations this must be dealt with and you should ask a surveyor to advise you of the work that needs to be done.

9. Ask the landlord. Although the landlord is under no obligation to help you, it is worth asking what works need to be carried out and what payments you need to make to avoid any uncertainty.

10. Seek legal advice. With so many risks it is important for you to be properly advised.

Why it makes sense to finance your fit out by leasing

2010-06-18T09:05:00.000+01:00

If you pay for the office furniture and office partitions in fact any element of your office refurbishment from your cash flow, only a limited percentage is allowable for tax purposes. Because of the ‘intangible’ elements, the Revenue may only allow you to claim capital allowances against approximately 65% of the project. However, if you lease the works, the repayments are 100% allowable unlike any other form of finance such as a bank loan. This 100% allowance on payments makes leasing the most tax efficient method of refurbishing a building and can WORK OUT CHEAPER THAN PAYING CASH!

2010-06-10T12:57:00.001+01:00

What is the Legal minimum office space per person?

Before agreeing & signing a new lease on a commercial office space and going to the expense of an office Fit out or commercial refurbishment you should give serious thought to the legal requirement for staff numbers against the square footage of your proposed new premises.

If you refer to the UK Building Regulations & look in the section that deals with Fire Hazards (Part B of the Building Regs.) it stipulates a minimum area of 6 square metres (64 sq feet) for each person in an office premises.

This Space to head figure is then easily worked out by equating you companies total headcount, against the overall net internal area (NIA) and so doesn't necessarily limit the space for a single person with a desk but can take in circulation & storage areas.

It should also be worthwhile to take into account your expansion plans in staff numbers over the duration of your lease before committing to your office relocation

In practice offices will have a number of factors, mostly relating to Fire Escape but also regarding the provisions of WCs that have an impact on the legal maximum number of people accommodated within an office building.

Some various types of commercial fit out

2010-06-04T16:05:00.000+01:00

Shell and core

refers to the main entrance & building reception as well as other common building areas such as toilets stairs in fact any area that does not form part of a rented demise to a incoming tenant. The lettable areas are then left as a Shell for a fit out to be carried out at a later date.

Category A fit-out Commercial Refurbishment

Cat A fit is where the Landlord has fitted out a space instead of leaving just a bare shell as per the Shell & Core above. You will expect to see a single open plan space with no partitioning installed but with carpet laid new ceilings & lighting.

The space will also have been decorated and fitted with blinds in some instances.

Category B fit-out Commercial Refurbishment

The Cat B fit-out is carried out by the incoming tenant themselves and is direct with their D&B contractor with no Landlord involvment other than obtaining the required permissions & permits to carry out the works in their building.

The usual elements required in this area of fit out are:

What we do in a nutshell .......

2010-05-14T16:09:00.002+01:00

At Metre Squared Interiors we pride ourselves on providing a complete package to our commercial refurbishment clients. The advantage to you is that the whole process is seamless from the moment you call us to arrange an initial meeting, right through to the moment you sit down in your brand new space.

Our office fitters are second to none, couple that with great office design and you have a winning combination in office fit out in London

Were always happy to help.