Licence to Charity to use Furnished and Serviced Office Suite (with Service Charge)

When to use this Licence Template 

This Licence to Charity to use Furnished and Serviced Office Suite (with Service Charge) should be used where the owner of an office building is providing a charity with serviced office accommodation for use as a business occupier (i.e. as an administration office for staff/volunteers of the charity). There is a separate service charge. Provision of serviced accommodation tends to be construed as a licence arrangement, rather than a lease. This Licence is drafted so that the Licensor (owner) is responsible for repairs and maintenance and for providing the facilities and services that are needed on a day to day basis. If the Licensor is not providing a significant level of services to the office accommodation it would be advisable to use a lease instead and exclude the tenant’s (charity’s) security of tenure.

Licence Template can be Proposed by either the Owner or the (Charity) Licensee

An owner would usually expect to provide a draft licence to the proposed Licensee (i.e. the charity) for comment or agreement, and this template is suitable for that purpose. However, if you are a charity, there is no reason why you cannot ask the owner to agree to enter into an agreement in the form of this template: since there is to be only a very short term commitment (i.e. either party can terminate the agreement on fairly short notice), the owner may be amenable to you proposing the form of the licence agreement. If you do so, the owner might then request amendments to it. If you have any concern about any of those amendments, you should seek legal advice. If, on the contrary, the owner does not agree to your proposing the form of licence agreement, this template can then serve as a valuable checklist for you when you review the owner’s draft. If their draft either includes anything which is not in this template or it excludes anything which is in this template, that will alert you to potentially unreasonable or risky features of the owner’s draft, and you should seek legal advice where you have any doubts about the owner’s draft.

Details of the Charity

The details of the parties at the top of the first page contain alternatives so that you can include the appropriate wording to take account of the legal form of the charity. The signature clauses at the end of the template will need to be adapted to take account of the legal nature of the charity and the particular individuals authorised by the charity to sign on its behalf.

Clauses

Clause 1 contains the definitions. The definition of Premises makes optional reference to a plan. It is recommended that a plan is included, showing the Premises edged red, so that the extent of the Premises is clear.

The “Permitted Hours” should reflect the building’s opening hours.

Clause 2 contains the grant of the Licence and the procedure for terminating it before the end of the Licence Period.

Clause 3 contains the Licensee’s covenants. These cover payment of the Licence Fee and other outgoings, use, alterations and the Licensor’s right of entry.

Clause 4 contains a covenant regarding the provision of facilities and services. The list of services should be checked carefully and amended to reflect the services the Licensor will actually provide. Clause 4 also provides for the Licensee to have access to the Premises via the common parts of the building.

Clause 5 contains the service charge provisions.

Clause 6 contains some standard clauses including a requirement for notices (e.g. a notice to terminate the Licence) to be served in accordance with section 196 of the Law of Property Act 1925. This means that notices should be delivered by hand or sent by recorded or special delivery post. If the notice is sent by recorded or special delivery post, service is deemed to occur at the time at which the letter would “in the ordinary course” be delivered.

Optional phrases / clauses are enclosed in square brackets. These should be read carefully and selected so as to be compatible with one another. Unused options should be removed from the document.

This Licence to Charity to use Furnished and Serviced Office Suite (with Service Charge) is in open format. Either enter the requisite details in the highlighted fields or adjust the wording to suit your purposes.

Once you have purchased access to the appropriate document folder click on the “Download Document” button below. You will be asked what you want to do with the file. It is recommended that you save the document to a location of your choice prior to viewing.

Licence to Charity to use Furnished and Serviced Office Suite (with Service Charge) is part of Property Documents. Just £35.00 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Property Documents for 1 year.