Commercial Lease Lawyers Gold Coast
Commercial lease lawyers for Gold Coast businesses. We review leases for tenants and draft leases for landlords under Queensland law, online and on a fixed fee.
- Fixed fee lease review.
- For landlords and tenants.
- Online, no need to come in.
For tenants taking on premises
We review the lease before you sign and send written advice on the terms that matter to your business. We check the rent and rent reviews, outgoings, make good, the personal guarantee, options and assignment. Our fee includes the signed Form 12 when the lease is a retail shop lease.
If you are the landlord
We draft the lease from the agreed terms. For retail premises we also prepare the lessor disclosure statement and the outgoings estimate that goes with it.
Common lease types
Three types of lease come up most often. Each raises its own questions.
Shopping centre leases
A shopping centre lease usually comes with centre rules, a share of the centre’s outgoings and often a marketing levy. Check the trading hours you must keep, any relocation or redevelopment clause, and how outgoings are shared between tenants. The landlord must give you an estimate of outgoings before you sign and an audited statement each year. Our page on retail shop lease outgoings explains how that works.
Hospitality premises
Cafes, restaurants and bars often need a heavy fitout. Check that the permitted use matches your liquor licence and council approvals, who owns the fitout, and what make good will cost when you leave. If the landlord is contributing to the fitout, the incentive should be in writing before you sign.
Retail with seasonal trade
If your trade rises and falls through the year, look closely at fixed rent increases and any turnover rent clause. Those terms apply in quiet months as well as busy ones.
Queensland law that applies
Most shop leases, including those in shopping centres, fall under the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Qld). It requires a disclosure statement at least seven days before the lease is entered into, and, for most new tenants, a signed Form 12 and Form 11 given to the landlord. It also sets rules for assigning a retail shop lease when you sell the business. Disputes go first to the Queensland Small Business Commissioner for mediation, then to QCAT.
For the wider picture, see retail shop leases in Queensland.
Leases are registered with Titles Queensland. A lease longer than three years, including options, should be registered so it binds a later owner.
How it works
- Send us the lease and any disclosure statement online.
- We confirm the fee.
- You get our written advice, or the finished lease documents.
- Everyone signs electronically.
Other lease services
- Option to renew: exercising an option on time.
- Registering a lease: lodging the lease with Titles Queensland.
- Retail shop lease disputes: rent, outgoings and other disagreements under the Act.
Questions
Something else? Enquire online or email us.
Does the Retail Shop Leases Act apply to a cafe or restaurant?
Often, yes. Food and drink businesses are among the retail businesses the regulations list, and premises in a retail shopping centre are usually covered whatever the business. There are exclusions, so we check yours.
Can the landlord move me to another shop in the centre?
Only if the lease has a relocation clause. Under a retail shop lease in Queensland, the Act sets conditions the landlord must meet, including notice and paying your reasonable costs of moving.
What happens to my lease if I sell the business?
The buyer usually takes an assignment of the lease, which needs the landlord's consent. For a retail shop lease, following the Act's assignment process can release you and your guarantors from liability for the buyer's defaults.
Taking on new premises?
Send us the lease and any disclosure statement online. We'll confirm the fee before we start.
- Fixed fees.
- Online, Australia-wide.
- Landlords and tenants.