Commercial Conveyancing

There are several different property types. Residential property is properties which are designed for individuals or families to live in and include flats, apartments, terraced houses, detached and semi-detached houses. Commercial property is property specifically designed for business use. It may be a converted residential house, such as a corner shop or converted office, or it may be purpose built such as a warehouse, industrial unit or office building on an industrial estate. The Use Class of the property at the time it is bought, sold or leased is what defines whether it falls under residential or commercial conveyancing. Mixed use property are those which combine both commercial and residential uses under one roof. Common examples include shops with a flat or flats above. Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) also commonly fall under the commercial conveyancing umbrella.

If you want to read more about our residential conveyancing services, please visit our page here.

Where it is common for families and people to move house often, businesses are inclined to stay in the same property for prolonged periods of time. Therefore, it is important to ensure you are happy with the property you are buying or lease you are entering into and that it works for your business. As a landlord, this is often a benefit alongside a higher typical return on investment seen with commercial over residential property.

In residential property, the onus of maintenance most often falls on the landlord, whereas with commercial property, it falls on the tenant. There are also often reinstatement clauses in commercial leases where the tenant must return the building to its former state at the end of the lease. There are also much more regulations required in commercial property, such as fire safety measures. As a commercial tenant it is important you fully understand your obligations and as a landlord, the same applies. Tenant checks are much more detailed in commercial property so it is important you have a good solicitor here to guide you through this.

Commercial finance over has much higher interest rates and lender requirements are much more specific than is typically seen in residential property. It is therefore important to ensure your commercial conveyancing solicitor has a good level of experience in handling commercial finance.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is different on commercial property compared to residential property and so this will need to be considered carefully and the formalities carried out by a competent conveyancing solicitor.

The search requirements for a commercial property are often different from residential property. Whilst they are the same types of searches, information shown on the searches will be different. As a commercial property owner or tenant, there may also be other considerations you will need to take into account that you wouldn’t in a residential property. For example, if you are a business who has customers visiting regularly by car, then you need to ensure there are the relevant parking facilities for your customers. In addition, commercial properties often undergo regular renovation work to make them fit for purpose. As a property owner, it is important to make sure you have the relevant building regulations in place for any works that have been carried out.

To find out more about our commercial conveyancing services and property team, get in touch with us either via telephone on 0800 799 9892 or email on hello@express-conveyancing.co.uk.