Commercial Lease Lawyers in Singapore

A lease is not paperwork at the end of a deal. It is the document a business lives inside for years, and most disputes trace back to a clause that nobody negotiated because it looked standard.

What is worth arguing about

The term and any option to renew. What happens at the end, and on what terms, decides whether you are negotiating from strength or from a removal van.

Rent review. How and when it moves, and whether there is a ceiling.

Permitted use. Narrow drafting here can prevent an ordinary change in how you run the business.

Reinstatement. The obligation to put the premises back as you found them. For a fitted-out space this is frequently the largest single number in the lease, and it arrives at the end of a term when it is least welcome.

Assignment and subletting. Whether you can move, sublet, or sell the business with the lease attached.

Acting for landlords

The same document read from the other side. We advise on drafting and negotiation, on building management issues, and on obtaining the approvals that a fitting-out or a change of use requires.

Across sectors

Offices, retail units, shophouses, industrial premises and more specialised assets, where technical requirements shape what the lease has to say.

How we help

Draft the lease, or review the one you have been given

A landlord's standard form is written for the landlord, which is entirely proper and is exactly why a tenant should have it read.

Negotiate the terms that matter

Rent review, the term and any option to renew, reinstatement obligations, permitted use, assignment and subletting. These are where money sits, and they are negotiable more often than tenants assume.

Advise on reinstatement

The obligation to return premises to their original state is routinely underestimated and can be a very large number at the end of a term. Better understood at the start.

Deal with building management and approvals

Fitting-out, works approvals and the consents required from the building and from the authorities.

Act on assignment, subletting and surrender

Including where a business is being sold and the lease has to move with it.

Advise across sectors

Offices, retail, shophouses, industrial premises, and more specialised assets where the technical requirements shape the lease.

Questions people ask

Is a landlord's standard lease negotiable?

More often than tenants assume. It is drafted in the landlord's interest, which is normal, and the question is which of those terms you can live with and which you cannot.

What is reinstatement and why does it matter?

An obligation to return the premises to their original condition at the end of the term. For a fitted-out space it can be a very substantial cost, and it lands at the point a business is least expecting it. It is worth quantifying before signing.

What should I look at first as a tenant?

The term and any renewal option, how rent is reviewed, the permitted use, reinstatement, and whether you can assign or sublet if your plans change. Those five carry most of the risk.

Do you act for landlords too?

Yes, on all aspects of commercial leasing, including drafting, negotiation, building management issues and obtaining approvals from the authorities.

We are buying a business with a lease attached. Can you deal with that?

Yes. Assignment of a lease as part of a sale has its own requirements, usually including the landlord's consent, and it should be dealt with alongside the sale rather than after it.