Property and tenancy clauses in a lease

Money under a lease

Bond sets the security a tenant pays and where it is held, which for residential leases is usually a state bond authority rather than the landlord's account. Rent review sets when and how rent changes, whether by a fixed percentage, CPI or a market review. Outgoings decides which property costs, such as council rates, insurance and building maintenance, are passed to a commercial tenant. State residential and retail leases acts limit all three, so each page names the state its sample follows and says where the rules differ. Read rent review before signing a lease longer than three years.

Living in or using the property

Quiet enjoyment is the tenant's right to use the property without the landlord interfering, and access and inspection sets when the landlord may still come in and how much notice is needed. Permitted use says what a commercial tenant may do on the premises, and it matters more than it looks, because a use outside it can breach the lease or planning rules. Repairs and maintenance splits responsibility for fixing things, and pets covers whether animals are allowed and on what terms, which several states now regulate for residential leases.

Changing or ending the lease

Subletting controls whether the tenant can let part or all of the property to someone else. Option to renew gives a tenant the right to extend, and the notice window to exercise it is strict, so a missed date can lose the option. Break clauses let one side end early, holding over covers a tenant staying on after the term ends, and make good sets the condition the property must be returned in. Make good is the clause behind most end of lease disputes. Each page carries sample wording and variants, and none of it is legal advice.

Every page in this collection

• Bond clause in a lease: amount, lodgement and return

  Bond disputes happen in the last week of a tenancy, but they are decided by what was done in the first week: the amount taken, the lodgement and the condition report. A clause that follows the statutory steps makes the eventual claim routine.

• Break clause in a commercial lease

  Break clauses in England and Wales are read strictly, so a small arrears figure or a partition left behind can keep a tenant bound for years. The safest break for a tenant has a clear date, a clear notice method and as few conditions as the landlord will accept.

• Holding over clause: staying on after the lease expires

  Holding over happens more often than either side plans, usually because renewal talks run past the expiry date. A clause that settles the rent, the notice and which terms survive stops an informal arrangement turning into an argument about what kind of tenancy exists.

• Landlord access clause: entry, inspections and notice

  Entry disputes rarely involve a dramatic intrusion. They are about an inspection booked for the wrong day, a tradesperson arriving unannounced or an open home every Saturday, and a clause that lists each reason with its notice period prevents most of them.

• Make good clause: what a tenant leaves behind

  Make good is often the largest bill a commercial tenant faces at the end of a lease, and it arrives when the business has already moved on. A clause tied to a photographed condition report, with a landlord election made well before the last day, turns an open ended obligation into a list.

• Option to renew clause: the right to a further term

  An option is worth a great deal to a tenant who has spent money on a fit out, and nothing if the notice arrives a day late. The clause has to make the window, the method of exercise and the rent for the new term impossible to misread.

• Outgoings clause: the building costs on top of rent

  On a small shop, outgoings can add a large share to the rent, and the lease particulars rarely show how the estimate was built. A clause that lists each recoverable cost, the tenant's percentage and the statement timetable lets a tenant check the invoices instead of trusting them.

• Permitted use clause: what the premises may be used for

  The permitted use looks like a single line in the lease particulars, but it shapes the tenant's ability to adapt the business, sell it or assign the lease. It can also decide whether the retail leases legislation applies at all, so it deserves more than a one word description.

• Pet clause in a lease: consent, conditions and refusals

  Pet clauses used to be one line saying no pets, and in New South Wales that line no longer works. The clause now records the consent given for a particular animal and the reasonable conditions attached, which is exactly what gets examined if the tenancy ends in a dispute.

• Quiet enjoyment clause: what a tenant is actually promised

  Most quiet enjoyment disputes in shops and offices are about building works, blocked access and unannounced visits, not noise. The clause earns its place by saying what the landlord may still do, how much warning it gives and what the tenant receives when trading is disrupted.

• Rent review clause: fixed, CPI or market

  A rent review looks like arithmetic until the market moves the wrong way. The method, the dates and what happens when the parties disagree about market rent decide whether a tenant can keep trading in year four, so they deserve more attention than the starting rent.

• Repairs and maintenance clause: who fixes what in a lease

  Most repair disputes are about one expensive item, usually air conditioning, a roof leak or a cool room, and whether it is structure, plant or wear and tear. A clause that lists the items and the procedure for urgent failures settles the question before the item breaks.

• Sublease clause: renting the premises on to someone else

  A sublease lets a tenant with surplus space recover some of its rent without giving up the lease, which is why landlords care who moves in. The clause decides whether consent can be refused at will, what the landlord may charge for considering a request and who answers for the subtenant.