What is a growing lease? A growing lease is, quite simply, a lease which is deemed to grow beyond its initial term. This may apply to leases with an unknown or an indefinite term or where a tenant remains in…

Where a lease has a term commencement date which does not coincide with the date of the lease, the rule in Bradshaw v Pawley [1980] 1 WLR 10 means that Year 1 for the purposes of your net present value…

In a profession where time is currency and fixed fees are often agreed, solicitors more than ever are looking at streamlining their processes. Stamp Duty Land Tax is often seen as an afterthought by solicitors having completed a transaction. The…

Tenants with non-residential leases for a term of less than five years regularly overpay SDLT. HMRC has an online calculator to assist with the assessment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (“SDLT”), a tax which is payable on certain property transactions…

SDLT on lease renewals cannot always be correctly calculated using the HMRC SDLT calculator due to complex rules in relation to the term start date. On a non-residential lease renewal, the Term for the purposes of the SDLT calculator may…

Tenants often find themselves holding over between leases and whilst solicitors are instructed to act on the renewal, they rarely consider the holdover period and whether any further SDLT may have arisen. Where a lease is not contracted out of…