Document downloads - Leases
Available downloads
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Handling tenant's applications for approval to alterations (ARCHIVED)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
A landlord (or more likely his managing agent) will be faced from time to time with a situation in which his tenant applies for consent to make alterations to the leased property. Sometimes it will be found on examination that no formal consent is required under the lease, that the works are de minimis or that the tenant is merely advising the landlord of his proposals as a matter of courtesy. In these cases, a polite acknowledgement may be all that is needed. More frequently the tenant will require consent. -
Service charges in commercial property
Published September 2018
Effective from April 2019
Reissued September 2023
This professional standard sets a marker for the standards of management required in commercial property and provides mandatory obligations that RICS members and regulated firms engaged in this area must comply with. It has been endorsed by property bodies representing all sides of the property industry and widely acknowledged as a significant step forward for the property industry.
This document is effective from 1 April 2019.
The aims and objectives of this professional standard are to:
- improve general standards and promote best practice, uniformity, fairness and transparency in the management and administration of services charges in commercial property
- ensure timely issue of budgets and year-end certificates
- reduce the causes of disputes and to provide guidance on resolution and
- provide guidance to solicitors, their clients (whether owners or occupiers) and managers of service charges in the negotiation, drafting, interpretation and operation of leases, in accordance with best practice.
Although this document is a first edition professional standard, it supersedes the previous three editions published as codes of practice from 1 April 2019.
This document was reissued in September 2023 as a professional standard. It had previously been published in September 2018 as a professional statement. No material changes have been made to the document. -
Money laundering guidance (ARCHIVED)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
The RICS guidance was replaced by the HMRC guidance on the Regulations and RICS will not update this guidance further.
Go to: www.gov.uk/money-laundering-regulations-introduction
This guidance provided a general introduction to preventing money laundering, terrorist finance, bribery, and financial sanctions. It was co-authored by the National Federation of Property Professionals, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Association of Relocation Professionals, and the Association of Residential Managing Agents. It explained how to interpret and implement anti-money laundering requirements in practice. -
The New Lease Accounting Rules (RICS)
Published February 2011
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has issued proposals on how leases are to be accounted for by listed companies and others that report under International Financial Reporting Standards. If the new model is adopted, as seems likely, it will remove the distinction between operating and financial leases. This means that most corporate occupiers will have to record their lease obligations on the balance sheet which will have a significant impact on their reported financial position.
The industry consultation period ended on 15 December 2010 and there is a widely held view that the proposed standard will be adopted, although the IASB could still make some final changes. It is reasonable to assume that the standard would apply from 2014 if not before. When changes are made to accounting standards companies are required to provide restated balance sheets for the previous 2 years, meaning than the lease assets and liabilities may need to be calculated by 2012.
This is clearly something which is going to have a major impact on companies that lease commercial property and their advisers.
These changes do not just affect those chartered surveyors advising corporates on a day to day basis, but also investment and leasing agents. -
RICS Small Business Retail Lease (ARCHIVED)
Please note: These downloads have been archived and are available on isurv for information purposes only.
This lease is has been drafted specifically for high street retail property. It is written in plain English and provides flexible terms for a short term lease (of up to 5 years) with no rent review.
A lease is a binding contract in law and signing a lease on a property is one of the most significant financial commitments that a business can make. As a tenant it is essential that your lease matches your business requirements and that your fully understand all of its terms and conditions. -
Tenant representative process
Published March 2016
Effective from 11 April 2016
This guidance note, effective in Australia, aims to assist practitioners in professionally advising their tenant clients.
It covers typical requirements that advisors should be aware of, and clearly sets out the four key stages in the tenant representative process:
- detailed needs analysis
- the market review
- short list review and
- negotiation and documentation.