Use this agreement where you’re agreeing a short-term lease of a property, or part of a property, where:
business activities will be carried out on that property, and
the tenancy will be for a fixed period that does not exceed 6 months.
The template is drafted so as not to provide the tenant with the protected terms that entitle them to an automatic renewal of the lease.
However, to ensure this in practice, this means that:
The tenancy must not exceed a fixed term of 6 months, and
The total of the tenant’s period of occupation of the property does not exceed twelve months in aggregate.
You’ll see also that the template only obliges the tenant to repair and decorate the interior of the property, so the obligations relating to it are relatively light.
For more background on the important terms and the UK law that applies to commercial landlords and tenants, see our guide called Commercial Landlord and Tenant 101.
If you want to agree a residential tenancy agreement, i.e. an agreement with a tenant who is going to use the property to live in, and not work in as a business, then you’ll need a very different template: our assured short-term residential tenancy agreement. You’ll probably also need our pre-tenancy checklist letter, which will help you get the references you should request from your prospective tenants as well as give you the details you need to know about the rules on taking, looking after and returning tenants deposits.
If you’re not sure what you need or you’d like some friendly help putting in place commercial tenancy arrangements, our speak to a lawyer service is ideally positioned to help you get started.