Commercial Property
Whether freehold or leasehold, purchase or sale, the Enoch Evans Commercial Property team are experts in all aspects of Commercial Property transactions.
Acting for Landlords, Property Developers, Business Owners, Property Investors and Land Owners, their years of experience in commercial property transactions enable them to offer commercial and pragmatic support and advice. With full transparency of costs from the outset and during the engagement.
Enoch Evans Commercial Property lawyers are Approachable; Accessible; Accountable; Able and all of our transactions are Partner or senior solicitor led, meaning you will have a single point of contact throughout your transaction. Using the latest technology our team keeps in touch virtually or in person and will provide a speedy, efficient and cost-effective service.
Strengthening their expertise are the close working relationships with local surveyors, financial advisors, accountants.
Our Commercial Property Expertise:
Buying and selling commercial property
From a small high street shop to a large commercial warehouse, our team of commercial property lawyers will carefully guide you through the process of acquiring or disposing of commercial property.
Our local knowledge and extensive network of professional contacts across our Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Cannock offices allow us to provide a fully tailored and personal service.
We provide a fully joined up service, dealing with surveyors, banks and other lenders. We work closely with our Property Litigation team where issues with existing tenants arise as part of a sale process. We can advise on ways to maximise the value of your sale if there is potential for the buyer to develop or otherwise add value to the property you are selling.
You may be selling or buying a business that comes with commercial property. We work closely with our colleagues in the Company and Commercial team to ensure the whole process goes smoothly.
We have extensive experience of dealing with the sale and purchase of shops, restaurants, pharmacies, dentists, GPs, vets and opticians. We work closely with the National Pharmacy Association and business sales agents. For more information, please click here.
Commercial leases and licences
Whether you are a landlord, prospective tenant, tenant or subtenant of commercial premises, our team of experienced commercial property lawyers are here to advise you on the whole range of issues that can arise when dealing with commercial leases and licences.
Leases can be complex documents and hard to understand. We explain them in a clear way so you are certain that the premises meet your needs, both now and in the future. We take the utmost care so that you are not faced with any nasty shocks along the way or when the lease comes to an end.
One of the few guarantees in business is constant change and the need for businesses to adapt to such change. Business may be going so well you need bigger premises or you may need the flexibility of down-sizing or subletting part of the premises. Either way, we can provide you with step-by-step guidance to assist you with rent reviews, variations, surrenders assignments and sub-letting.
Options, pre-emption agreements and overage agreements.
Landowners and developers need flexibility and certainty where land is intended to be developed for either residential or commercial purposes.
Developers can ask a landowner to give them the right, known as a call option to buy the land if for instance planning permission is granted. This gives the developer some comfort and confidence to commit the necessary time and money involved in investigating the development potential and seeking planning permission.
The option agreement would set out the terms of purchase including payment, which is generally calculated as a percentage of the property's market value with the benefit of the planning permission that is obtained by the developer. Conversely, landowners may be reluctant to give such options (that would in effect prevent the sale of the land to a third party) unless they have the right to require the developer to buy the land, whether or not planning is obtained, at an agreed price, if the option is not exercised within an agreed period. This is known as a put option over land.
A right of pre-emption over land gives a prospective buyer the right to be offered the chance to buy that land before the landowner offers it to anyone else during an agreed period. A right of pre-emption is also called a right of first refusal because it requires the landowner to give first refusal to the owner of the pre-emption right.
This gives a prospective buyer an advantage over the market in relation to land that the prospective buyer particularly wants. It gives the landowner the chance to sell at an agreed price without the expense and delay involved in going to the open market.
A right of pre-emption locks both parties into an agreement for the agreed pre-emption period.
An overage agreement provides an obligation on a buyer to make a further payment to seller after completion of the purchase, representing a share of any increased value of the property after an agreed trigger event occurs. This trigger could be grant of planning permission, implementation of planning permission or disposal of the property with the benefit of planning permission.
Our Commercial Property lawyers can help you navigate the often complex issues that can arise where there is an Option, Overage, or right of pre-emption.
Planning
We assist in dealing with the legal aspects of conditions on planning applications including unilateral undertakings that are sometimes required from local planning authorities in relation to things such as the environmental impact of developments. We deal with the legal requirements of highways and water authorities and can assist in obtaining or negotiating Compulsory Purchase Orders.
Property Finance
The purchase of commercial property, no matter the size, constitutes a significant investment for a business. This often requires the support of third party finance from banks or other financial institutions. Our team of experienced commercial property lawyers regularly advise on such transactions.
Alternatively, your business may need to raise capital secured against property that you already own or you may have a portfolio of properties that are subject to different charges that you are seeking to restructure in the most efficient way. Whilst we cannot give financial advice (although Enoch Evans has a myriad of contacts that can help in this regard) we can advise and assist on the necessary property related legal issues and steps needed to be undertaken.
Retail leisure and hospitality
From large retail units to corner shops, restaurants, pubs and franchised takeaways, the retail and hospitality sector is a challenging and ever changing one. Such challenges include the shift in consumer demand in traditional retail premises to an increase in online sales resulting in an increased need for commercial properties used for storage and distribution.
Our Commercial Property lawyers combine legal expertise with a solution driven, results orientated commercial approach to best suit your business needs.
We work alongside other specialist teams across the firm to provide a rounded service that can include advice on commercial contracts, employment law and commercial dispute resolution.
Acquisition and Disposal of retail pharmacies, dentists, GPs, care homes, vets, and opticians.
Industrial units
Industrial units come in all shapes, sizes and types - from huge distribution hubs to small workshops. Our Commercial Property team consists of a mix of experienced lawyers who can offer you a tailored and efficient service. You will have a named first point of contact so whether you are buying, selling or leasing, you can be confident that you will have all the help and support you need to complete the transaction in a timely and efficient manner.
Agricultural land and buildings
We have a number of clients that are local landowners and have dealt with some families of farmers for multiple generations. We work closely with our colleagues in our Wills Trusts and Probate team when agricultural land is passed down from generation to generation.
Agricultural land presents specific issues to consider when buying, selling or leasing such land. There remains a large amount of unregistered farmland in the UK, simply because the property has not changed hands for many years and as such has not been subject to compulsory registration at the Land Registry. In addition, often the legal title to such land is complicated due to it consisting of several different parcels of land, some of which may be registered at the land registry and some not.
It is equally important to consider all the possible rights that such land could be subject to or benefit from such as rights of way, sporting rights as well as environmental and planning issues.
What our clients say:
"You have been a revelation in assisting our legal challenges."
"Fantastic! Thank you both and your teams for a super-efficient and hassle free deal process – well done!"
"Many thanks for the update and thanks for all the process as always pleasure to deal with you and look forward to deal with you again"
Speak to our Commercial Property team today
To speak to one of our commercial property solicitors in Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Cannock, please refer to the contact details for each location, email commercialproperty@enoch-evans.co.uk or, alternatively, fill in the enquiry form on the right hand side of the page to ask us a question