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As the property market falters, corporate occupiers are increasingly finding themselves in the uncomfortable role of ‘The Reluctant Landlord®’, with surplus property and subtenants. When you are facing both sides of the landlord‐tenant equation, what strategies can you use to limit the damage to cash flow and to avoid the costly legal pitfalls awaiting you if you get it wrong?

Financial Reporting Standard 12 was introduced in 1999 with no guidance notes on how to deal with property. The key points of this paper consider how real estate needs to be dealt with: corporate real estate managers need to assess liability, before considering whether it is material; the sums to be discounted; and annual reviews needed.

Demanding or accepting rent under the wrong circumstances can give rise to numerous problems. It may amount to the creation of a new tenancy, an affirmation that an old tenancy is being extended, or a waiver of a right of forfeiture due to breaches of covenant. It may also involve rent reviews and lease renewals.

The purpose of this paper is to look at the problem caused by the operation of break clauses contained in commercial leases – a predominantly UK phenomenon, a consequence of longer lease terms.

The pitfalls that can befall a corporate occupier are numerous and the authors of this paper share some of their recent experiences to highlight issues that can arise and how a Corporate Real Estate Manager or advisor can avoid or minimise those risks.

For corporate occupiers, the operation of a break clause can be fraught with difficulty and its successful implementation requires a strategy to be put in place well in advance of the break date.

The paper shows how turmoil in the wider financial market could make the flexibility that breaks offer very important to certain businesses.

Landlords seem to be receiving more applications for consent to assignment of commercial leases than ever before. It is no doubt a reflection of the present economic climate in which many tenants find it increasingly difficult to pay ever escalating rents, and landlords are justifiably scrutinizing such applications more closely than ever before. The purpose of these notes is to review briefly the basic legal position and to discuss some of the more problematical points.

No matter the size or scope of a biotech laboratory project, neither landlords nor tenants should rely on traditional ‘form’ documents to address the many complex leasing issues unique to this industry. When negotiating and documenting a biotech lab lease, five clauses warrant particular attention. ‐ Construction of tenant improvements: Build‐outs of lab space can be highly specialised and elaborate. Tenants will require detailed involvement in design and construction of improvements while landlords may limit, to the extent possible, tenant improvements to those that are financeable, resuable and ‘generic’. ‐ Security deposits: Greater security in the form of a deposit and letter of credit may be required to balance the potentially higher risks and longer terms of many biotech laboratory leases. ‐ Hazardous materials: Most biotech laboratories will work with hazardous materials. Specially tailored lease provisions can help limit liability and mitigate the potential costs of removal, remediation and litigation. ‐ Building services and utilities: Biotech users may require high levels of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), plumbing, electrical and janitorial services. Lease provisions for services and utilities should be tailored to the unique intended use of biotech premises. ‐ Assignment of sublease: Given the rapidly changing nature of the science, tenants may require added flexibility to sublease space or to assign the entire interest in the lease. Although these five clauses address only some of the many issues that landlords and tenants should consider in biotech lab leases, they have implications that echo throughout the lease.

From time to time, clients ask counsel and brokers about the pros and cons of using an assignment versus a sublease to effect a transfer of possession and a transfer of obligations with respect to leased premises. With about equal frequency, questions come up regarding the differences between assignments and subleases, and ‘whether those differences really make a difference’ after all is said and done. While assignments and subleases are both means to achieve substantially similar ends, they do yield different legal and business results. The purpose of this paper is to explain and discuss some of the similarities and some of the distinctions between assignments and subleases, both from a legal perspective and from business and practical perspectives, and to discuss some of the reasons that the different parties involved in such transactions may prefer, or wish to select one of these transaction forms over the other.

How far do theoretical descriptions of the role and function of facilities managers match practical applications? Reviews four quite separate and distinctive cases in the light of the strategic, tactical and operational aspects of a facilities manager′s work. Concludes that attention to detail is of prime importance, that senior management must show greater understanding of the strategic importance of the facilities role and that, though fundamental problems are common to all the cases, the solutions differ in each case and knowledge of detail becomes the vital skill.