Reservation of a premises

You have found a premises that interests you, but you are unsure if the urban planning regulations will allow you to adapt it to your activity; in addition, you will need the authorization of the building's community of owners. Since these procedures may take some time and in the meantime the premises could be rented to third parties, you are interested in "reserving" it.

For this, it is important to obtain a commitment from the owner that they will not rent the premises for a certain period of time. In exchange, they may require guarantees that you will not back out. So, see how to act in this situation:

• Lease reservation. Find out the estimated time it will take to carry out the procedures with the city council and the community in order to agree on the duration of the reservation. With this information, agree with the owner not only on the reservation, but also on exclusivity, as this will ensure that you will be the only one who will have the option to be the tenant. It is also advisable to agree on the main conditions of the future lease contract to include them as an annex to the reservation document, and you can even directly attach what will be the future contract.

• Deposit. It is common to offer a monetary deposit, which the owner may retain as compensation if you ultimately decide not to lease the premises or if the reservation period elapses without you giving a response.

• Suspensive condition. As an additional guarantee, in case the city council takes longer than expected to grant you the license, agree in the reservation document on a suspensive condition. In this way, if the reservation period expires and you still do not have the license, you will still sign the lease contract. However, this contract will be suspended (it will not be effective) until you obtain the license. The owner, on the other hand, may require that this condition also have a specific duration and another deposit for that "extra time" if the condition is not met.

 

Our advisors will help you negotiate with the owner both the reservation document for a premises and the future conditions of your lease contract.