Glossary

Alienation
Rights to dispose of a leasehold interest in land or property are described as alienation provisions. Usually a lease on a commercial building will permit assignment or subletting but dependant upon a raft of conditions being satisfied.

Assignment
The transfer of a lease from one party to the other. Once a lease has been assigned, the assignee becomes responsible to the landlord for paying the rent and fulfilling the other obligations of the lease. However, in the event of default, the landlord may be able to require the assignor to pay the rent.

Authorised guarantee agreement (AGA)
A common requirement on granting a lease.  The tenant gives an AGA if it assigns the lease, guaranteeing the assignee’s performance of the lease obligations given to the landlord.

Break clause
A clause in a lease giving either or both parties the right to terminate a lease in specified circumstances.

Brownfield land
Previously developed land.

Business Rates
The way in which businesses and other occupiers of non-domestic property contribute towards the cost of local authority services. The VOA is responsible for assessing the rateable value of all non-domestic and business property in England and Wales. In broad terms, the rateable value is a professional view of the annual rent for a property if it was available on the open market on a set date.  All current rateable values are based on a valuation date of 1 April 2008.

Local councils use the rateable value, in conjunction with a factor called the multiplier, to calculate the basic business rates liability for each property, before applying any discounts or reliefs. Local councils are responsible for sending out the bills and collecting the rates payable. Rateable values are reassessed, or revalued, every five years, bringing them into line with current market values. For the 2010 revaluation, the valuation date is 1 April 2008.

Capital value
The value of an asset, freehold or leasehold, as distinct from its annual or rental value.

Covenant
The word is used in two senses: First, in the strict legal sense, it refers to a clause in the lease requiring the tenant (or landlord) to do something or to refrain from doing something. Second, it is used in the wider sense to denote the worth of a tenant and hence the risk of default, which will have a bearing on the value of the lease.

Demised premises
Premises which are the subject of a lease.

Dilapidations
This term principally covers proceedings whereby a landlord, by service of a ‘schedule of dilapidations’ seeks either to enforce a tenant’s repairing obligations under a lease of business premises, or claims compensation for lack of repair by the tenant at the end of the lease term.

Equivalent yield
The yield worked out on a discounted cash flow basis, taking into account initial and reversionary yields.

Freeholder
One holding an estate in “fee simple absolute in possession”.

Fully repairing and insuring (FRI) lease A lease where the tenant is responsible for repairing, maintaining and insuring the interior and exterior of the premises.

GIA (gross internal area)
The GIA refers to the total area within the perimeter walls of a property and makes no allowance for the space occupied by staircases, walls, WCs etc. This measurement is the standard measurement given for industrial property.

Greenfield land
Undeveloped land.

Ground lease
A lease of the land only. Usually the land is leased for a relatively long period of time to a tenant that constructs a building on the property. A land lease separates ownership of the land from ownership of buildings and improvements constructed on the land.

Headline rent 
The rent apparently being paid, which may not take account of concessions such as rent-free periods.

Hereditament
A unit of rateable occupation for rateable value purposes.

Indexation
The regular adjustment of a rent in accordance with a specified index, eg the Retail Price Index.

Initial yield – gross
The immediate investment yield received by a property purchaser – i.e. rent as a percentage of purchase price, without allowing for any purchase costs incurred such as legal, agents and valuation fees, bank fees and Stamp Duty.

Initial yield – net
The yield available to the purchaser after taking into account purchasers costs detailed above.

Internal repairing (IR) lease 
Under this type of lease the landlord retains responsibility for structural and external repairs without reimbursement.  The tenant’s only responsibility is for repairing the inside of the let premises and contributing towards the maintenance of any common parts via a traditional service charge.

Investment yield
Annual rent passing as a percentage of the capital value.

Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (applying to England and Wales only)
The act of parliament that gives tenants security of tenure (the right to renew a tenancy on essentially the same terms when it comes to an end) on a commercial lease. Your lease is usually referred to as being inside’ or ‘outside; the act. Inside means that you will have a right to a new lease when your current lease ends, ‘outside means that you will not

Lease
A contractually binding agreement that grants a right to exclusive possession or use of property, usually in return for a periodic payment called rent.

Managed office space
A hybrid of serviced office space and conventional office space, fully managed by outside companies. It offers highly equipped office space on flexible terms.

Mezzanine floor    
Is an intermediate floor that can be installed post construction, height permitting, to provide additional storage /office space.

NIA (net internal area)
The NIA is defined as the usable space within the perimeter walls of a property. It excludes areas such as the WCs, space occupied by solid dividing walls, staircases etc. NIA is the standard figured quoted for office space.

Purchaser’s costs
These costs include Stamp Duty Land Tax, legal and agency fees, and survey charges. They are traditionally calculated at 5.7625% of the purchase price, on the assumption that the property has a value in excess of £500,000.

Rack rent 
The best market rent obtainable

Real estate investment trust (REIT)
An investment vehicle in which investors purchase certificates of ownership in the trust, which in turn invests the money in real property and then distributes any profits to the investors. The trust is not subject to corporate income tax as long as it complies with the tax requirements for a REIT. Shareholders must include their share of REITs income in their personal tax returns.

Rent deposit
A sum of money paid to the landlord at the start of a lease which the landlord will draw on if the tenant defaults on rent or other payments or obligations. The tenant receives the interest that accrues on the rent deposit whilst it is held by the landlord.

Rent review
Leases generally contain clauses providing for a periodical review of the rent, say at five yearly intervals. The lease will generally specify the basis of review, which may be to Market Value or by reference to an artificial means like the Retail Price Index (RPI).

Rent review (market value vs indexed-linked) 
Reviews to ‘market value’ are the most common form of rent review for commercial leases. Indexed-linked reviews are where the rent review is linked to an index, typically the Retail Price Index (RPI). Indexed-linked reviews are often used a substitute for market value in an attempt to keep the rent in line with market value, although such indices (i.e. RPI) bare no relation to property values. Indexes are mainly used for properties where there is little or no comparable evidence and can often lead to a reviewed rent being either grossly inflated or undervalued if adopted over a lengthy period of time.

Restrictive covenant
A covenant in a lease restricting the tenant in some respect, eg a covenant in a shop lease providing that only a particular type of trade may be carried out at the premises.

Reverse premium
On assignment, the payment of a sum of money by the assignor to the assignee e.g. a sum of money to reflect the unfavourable lease terms, eg where there is over-renting.

Reversionary yield
The yield the purchaser should be likely to receive on the purchase price following a rent increase or a rent review to an already agreed or assumed market rent.

Schedule of condition
A record of the state of a property (which can include written documentation and photographs) at the start of a lease which provides the standard against which any disrepair at the end of the lease is measured.

Schedule of dilapidations

A notice, prepared by the landlord, setting out where the tenant is in breach of his repairing obligations under the lease. This is usually served close to the end of a lease when a landlord wants a tenant to put the property back into good condition.

Service charge
The amount a tenant pays for services his landlord provides e.g. when the building is let to multiple tenants it will cover common parts and the exterior.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
Tax payable to the Government, which is calculated on the purchase price of a property. For commercial properties up to £150,000 there is no SDLT, for properties between £150,000 and £250,000 the SDLT is charged at 1%, for properties purchased between £250,000 and £500,000 the SDLT is calculated at 3% and for properties over £500,000 SDLT is calculated at 4% of the price.

Subletting
Where the tenant lets part or all of the premises to a subtenant, as permitted by the terms of the lease. It differs from assignment in that the head lessee remains responsible to the landlord for the payment of rent and fulfillment of other obligations.

Tenancy at Will
Occupation of the premises at the will of the landlord. A tenancy at will has no fixed length and no notice is required to be given by either party to bring the tenancy to an end. A tenancy at will is often a verbal agreement.

Termination
The coming or bringing to an end of a lease, by mutual agreement, by the passing of time, or by the exercise of a right of one of the parties.

 Use classes
The Town & Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 puts uses of land and buildings into various categories. A use class is a grouping together of similar land uses. ( See categories).

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