Tenant refusing new lease? Has an old lease that isn't valid?

[JackHendersin1]

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of advice about a tenant I have in a commercial property. I'm 19 and a bit of an amateur, about 3 months ago I bought a commercial property in Edinburgh,Scotland.

 

I'm having some issues with the current tenant, and the lease he holds. I have had a consultation with a solicitor and he charged me £320 for 1.5 hours and is asking for another £2000 before doing anything so thought I would ask for some help here.

 

 

Now 2 issues, the first is that the tenant's lease may not be valid, it is hand written, has only 1 clause and is about the rent. However the person that is written to be the proprietor on the lease has never owned that business nor has he ever held a lease, so it's not a sub lease. The tenant is very unhelpful and keeps saying that was the man he paid and that is all.

 

 

The second issue is the rate of the rent. It is a 10 year lease, and the rent is £100 a month, but I've spoken to 2 estate agents who says it's worth between £925-1000 per month. Because the solicitor said the lease is not valid due to the proprietor not actually being the proprietor, I served a new lease however the tenant is refusing to sign it, and is quite abusive and has used threatening language.

 

 

Now I'm not sure if I'm in the wrong or he is, and am not sure if I should go along with the solicitor, as although he has assured me the lease is not valid and that unless the tenant signs the new lease, he is technically liable to eviction, I'm not sure since he wants up front payment.

 

 

Thanks for reading (I'm sorry it's such a long post) and thanks in advance for any help.

[citizenkain]

off the top of my head I can tell you Ive never heard of a commercial lease of £100 a month,if you own the property,start eviction against him,youll soon find out what its about!,,,don't involve the £320 an hour solicitor though,go to CAB

[mariner51]

Is the commercial lease for a shop with attached residence eg flat above, a storage space eg lock-up or newsstand?

 

 

How did you buy property eg at auction? How was it described? Any info on legal T?

 

 

Formally identify yourself to present incumbent as the new LL and ask for definitive evidence he is the legit Lessee (T)

What business is conducted at the premises?

Why did you buy a comm property with 1o yr Lease with rent at £100 / month?

[Swoosh84]

£100 a month is a steal, I lease a commercial property in an Industrial Estate next to Portobello and we are just short of the £1k a month mark. Good luck with getting this sorted, can imagine that current tenant knows fine well that he has a bargain on his hands with this property!

 

J

[andydd]

Not very clued up on commercial leases but if the lease says £100 per month rent then thats what he has to pay, don't really follow the lease is not valid part Im afraid. Why do you use the word propierter ? Surely there is a landlord/freeholder ?. In non-commercial long leases the lease may mention people long departed, for example the lease was made in 1900 for 200 years between Mr X and Mr Y, Mr X and Mr Y have changed through the years but it just gets assigned to each new freeholder and leaseholder although the first original names appear on the lease still, but the situation maybe very different for commercial leases, I frequent LandlordZone forum a lot on the Long Leasehold section, it may be worth visiting there to see if there is a Commercial Lease section.