Wayleave agreements: the development constraint hiding in plain sight
When commercial property developers carry out due diligence, they will generally prioritise seeking out the most common potential challenges, such as planning constraints, environmental liabilities, and defects in, etc. Yet there is one category of legal arrangement that regularly escapes detection until it has already become a problem, and that is wayleave agreements. These deceptively simple licences give utility and telecommunications providers rights to…
Read MoreWhat are retentions in construction contracts and why are they under review?
Withholding payment at the end of a construction contract has long been a fixture of UK construction contracts. It is often agreed at the outset and is a condition of the contract that a proportion of the agreed contract sum will be withheld (the “retention”). A typical contract allows the client or main contractor to…
Read MoreSolar in commercial property: Cutting service charges without cutting corners
Sustainability is no longer optional in commercial property. Investors, occupiers, regulators and the market now expect buildings to demonstrate genuine carbon reduction and clear ESG progress. At the same time, landlords and agents are under pressure to keep service charges under control, reduce operating costs, and maintain competitive EPC ratings. It is little surprise, then,…
Read MoreSubletting in the hybrid era: What tenants and landlords need to know
The post-pandemic shift towards hybrid working has reshaped the commercial office landscape in recent years. For tenants, the result has often been surplus space – desks that sit empty most days, unused meeting rooms, and entire wings of an office that feel more like a relic of 2019 than a necessity in 2025. In this…
Read MoreLeasing a shopping-centre unit – Part three: Why shopping-centre leases feel different
If you haven’t already read first the first part of our guide and part two what management companies should know. For retailers, moving into a shopping centre can be a turning point. Centres offer steady footfall, established branding, and a supportive retail environment. But the legal framework underpinning a centre lease is very different from…
Read MoreLeasing a shopping-centre unit – Part two: What management companies should know
If you haven’t already read the first part of our series. Anyone who manages a shopping centre knows that it is not just a collection of individual shops. It is a single destination, with its own identity, brand and reputation. Every letting, no matter how small, affects the whole. An empty or darkened unit can…
Read MoreLeasing a shopping-centre unit: a three-part guide
Shopping centres are complex ecosystems. Every lease is more than just a contract between landlord and tenant, it is a thread in the wider fabric that holds the centre and its operational environment together. Rent models, service charges, trading obligations, and redevelopment rights all interact to shape whether a centre thrives or struggles. At Newmanor…
Read MoreWhen the tills fall silent: Navigating retail distress in 2025
The challenges facing Britain’s high street have rarely felt so acute. In May 2025 alone, 2,238 companies in England and Wales entered insolvency – a 15% increase on the previous year and part of a sustained pattern of elevated failures. The retail sector, already navigating the shift to online shopping, felt that pressure sharply, with…
Read MoreA guide to understanding preliminaries in construction contracts
In any construction project, the focus often falls on the visible outputs: the steel, the bricks, the finishes. But behind the scenes, a critical part of the build is quietly powering every stage: the preliminaries. Often misunderstood or dismissed as background costs, preliminaries are in fact a core part of every construction contract. They can…
Read MoreDilapidations at Lease End
When a commercial lease ends, it’s not just a matter of handing back the keys. For both landlords and tenants, this moment can trigger one of the most technical and financially significant issues in commercial property – dilapidations. Put simply, dilapidations are claims made by a landlord when a tenant hasn’t complied with lease obligations…
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