Are there any specific regulations and/or laws which apply to leases of particular categories of real estate, such as residential, industrial, offices, retail or hotels and what is their impact?
Residential tenants have many statutory rights and specific advice should be sought. Many different procedures apply to residential lettings. Please see the residential leases section of this site for more information.
Commercial leases covering industrial property, offices, retail property and hotels are generally governed by case law, with some supplementary statutory provisions particularly in relation to business leases (Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995), land registration (Land Registration Act 2002) and taxation.
Parties are generally free to contract as they wish, although there are some restrictions on contracting out of statutory provisions. In particular, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 provides security of tenure for business tenants which can only be avoided by means of a special procedure.
The RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) Professional Standard: Code for Leasing Business Premises, England and Wales (1st edition) is a code of practice intended to influence the conduct of landlords and tenants during lease negotiations and after the lease is in place. It contains mandatory requirements for negotiations and heads of terms that must be complied with by landlords and agents who are RICS members and statements of good practice which may be departed from in exceptional circumstances. There is also a professional standard on service charges in commercial property (1st edition) which sets out best practice in the management and administration of service charges and provides some mandatory obligations with which surveyors who are RICS members and firms regulated by the RICS must comply.
Under the MEES Regulations, subject to certain exceptions, it is unlawful for landlords to let commercial or residential properties unless a minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) is met.
Agricultural tenants have many statutory rights and specific advice should be sought.
Additionally, the National Security and Investment Act 2021 applies to transactions entered into from 12 November 2020, introducing a mandatory and a voluntary notification regime for transactions which could affect national security and where a sensitive sector is involved (for example, defence). The legislation could cover the transfer of a leasehold interest or the grant of a new lease for a property which is, or is proximate to, a sensitive site, such as a government building or site of national critical infrastructure. However, little guidance has been given on the definitions of ‘proximate’ or ‘sensitive’. The regime will also cover foreign-to-foreign transactions with a UK element (such as an acquisition by one foreign investor of a data storage company in another country, if that company performs services which may impact on national security in the UK). Government approval would be required prior to completion of affected transactions and without it, the transaction would be void.