Welcome to Ebra Partners
Commercial Lease Lawyers
Expert legal advice on commercial and retail leases for landlords and tenants in Melbourne. Lease preparation, negotiation, disclosure, and dispute resolution.
Commercial & Retail Lease Services
Whether you are a landlord preparing a new lease or a tenant reviewing one before signing, our commercial lease lawyers provide practical advice to protect your interests. We handle retail leases under the Retail Leases Act (Vic) and standard commercial leases, ensuring all disclosure obligations are met and your key rights are preserved.
Critical Gaps in Standard Commercial Lease Agreements
Standard commercial contracts often heavily favour one party over the other, depending on who drafted them. To protect your investment or business, our commercial lease lawyers examine clauses where disputes regularly occur.
Make-Good Provisions and Decommissioning Costs
Make-good provisions resolve obligations to return premises to original conditions at lease expiry. Many tenants assume that improving a commercial property through a high-quality fit-out adds long-term capital value that the landlord will welcome. However, standard terms often require the tenant to completely strip the retail premises or office back to a bare shell upon termination.
Our property lawyers can negotiate these terms so tenants are not faced with tens of thousands of dollars in demolition costs when exiting, while simultaneously ensuring landlords are not left with abandoned, unleased fit-outs that make the property unmarketable to future occupants.
Maintenance vs Capital Replacement Traps
A common source of friction in a commercial or retail lease is the allocation of building repair costs. While regular maintenance tasks usually fall on the tenant, capital replacement of structural items should remain the responsibility of the property owner.
For example, if an industrial air conditioning unit or a plumbing system fails, a tenant without explicit protection could be forced to pay for a brand-new installation. Conversely, landlords need protection against tenant neglect. Expert negotiation ensures maintenance and repair obligations are clearly defined, so neither party is left exposed by ambiguous lease terms.
Commercial Leasing FAQs
What is the difference between a commercial lease and a retail lease?
A commercial lease is a formal document that outlines the rights and obligations of both the tenant and landlord, typically used for warehouses, industrial spaces, or corporate offices. A retail lease, governed by the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic), is not simply determined by the use of the premises — classification depends on a range of factors, including whether the premises are located within a shopping centre, the nature of the business carried on, and whether the premises fall within the definition of ‘retail premises’ under the Act.
Can a landlord refuse to let me sublet or assign my lease?
Whether a landlord can refuse consent to assign or sublet depends on both the lease terms and, for retail leases, the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic). For retail leases, the Act limits the grounds on which a landlord can refuse an assignment — generally to concerns about the proposed tenant’s financial resources or business experience. However, the Act does not give tenants an automatic right to sublet, and a landlord may reserve the right to refuse a sublease entirely if the lease permits it. For non-retail commercial leases, the position is governed entirely by the lease. Some leases allow a landlord to withhold consent at their absolute discretion. Tenants should obtain legal advice before assuming they have any right to assign or sublet.
What are make-good provisions, and how do they affect landlords and tenants?
Make-good provisions dictate how a tenant must leave the property at lease expiry. Unless negotiated otherwise, a tenant may be legally required to remove all fit-outs, repair any minor wall damage, and paint the interior, returning the space exactly to its original handover state. For landlords, a clear make-good clause ensures the property is immediately rentable to the next commercial tenant without the asset owner absorbing demolition costs.
Who is responsible for necessary repairs to the building structure?
The answer differs depending on whether your lease is a retail or commercial lease. For retail leases, landlords are required by law to maintain the structure of the premises — including walls, roof, and landlord-provided fixtures relating to basic amenities — in the same condition as when the lease commenced. These obligations cannot be contracted out of. For non-retail commercial leases, the position is largely determined by the lease itself. Most commercial leases place internal maintenance obligations on the tenant, while structural elements remain the landlord’s responsibility. However, items such as air conditioning and plumbing are often not clearly addressed, which is a common source of disputes. Regardless of lease type, repair and maintenance clauses should be carefully reviewed and clearly drafted before signing.
What should be reviewed in the Heads of Agreement?
The Heads of Agreement involves reviewing initial, non-binding offers to secure core commercial terms, such as rent, duration, incentives, and options, before finalising a lease. It is crucial to have a lawyer inspect this document from both perspectives, as parties often inadvertently lock in disadvantageous financial structures or binding conditions before the final, detailed lease is drawn up.