Welcome to Simply-Docs

Shop and Restaurant Tenancy at Will and Licence Agreements

Listed below are a selection of Tenancy at Will Agreements and Licences for shop and restaurant premises.

Most retail and restaurant businesses occupy their premises under a lease. A lease is a formal arrangement whereby the Tenant has exclusive use of the premises for a specified term. Leases usually contain detailed provisions as to what a tenant must and must not do in order to protect the value of the Landlord’s reversionary interest in the premises.

Sometimes it is not appropriate to grant a lease. If the business is only going to occupy the premises for a short time (say, less than 6 months) or if the parties are in the process of negotiating a lease but the Tenant needs to occupy the premises immediately, the parties may wish to use a Tenancy at Will or a Licence.

A Tenancy at Will has no fixed term and can be terminated by either party at any time with immediate effect. It is therefore only suitable for very short term arrangements.

A Licence is more like a lease in that it has a fixed term. However, a Licence is unlike a lease in that it is not an interest in land and a licensee cannot acquire security of tenure. An arrangement is a lease if the occupier has exclusive possession of premises for a fixed term. Such an arrangement is a lease whether or not the parties call it a lease. It cannot be a licence just because the parties call it a licence. The Licences in this sub-folder are drafted in such a way that the licensee does not have exclusive occupation of the premises.

Beware of granting a “licence” that is really a lease. A court might decide that the licensee is really a tenant who has security of tenure. If there is any doubt as to whether a proposed arrangement will be a lease or a licence, the safest approach is to grant a lease which excludes the tenant’s right to security of tenure.

Shop and Restaurant Tenancy at Will and Licence Agreements is part of Property Documents. Just £35.00 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Property Documents for 1 year.

Property Buy Only £35.00 + VAT!
Unlimited Downloads for One Year
No Auto-Renewal

Simply-4-Business Ltd Registered in England and Wales No. 4868909 Unit 100, Parkway House, Sheen Lane, London SW14 8LS

Top