Commercial and retail leases
For landlords and tenants — drafting, review and negotiation.
A lease can run for many years and cost far more than a purchase. Its terms on rent, outgoings, options, make-good and assignment decide what you pay and how easily you can leave or sell your business. Retail leases in Queensland have extra rules that override what the lease says.
The landlord must give a disclosure statement before the lease is entered into, and the tenant generally needs a legal advice report. Some outgoings cannot be passed on, and rent review rules are restricted.
Fixed, CPI or market reviews and how disputes are decided. Ratchet clauses and incentives need care.
Which costs the tenant pays — rates, insurance, management, repairs — and how they are estimated and reconciled.
Options must be exercised within strict windows. Missing a date can mean losing the premises or the business’s value.
What has to be removed or restored when the lease ends, and who owns the fit-out.
When the landlord can refuse consent, what the outgoing tenant still owes, and how guarantees are released.
Bank guarantees, bonds and personal guarantees — how much, who gives them and when they are returned.
Leases over three years should be registered to protect the tenant against a new owner. The landlord’s mortgagee may need to consent.
For landlords
- Lease drafting and disclosure statements
- Retail lease compliance
- Rent reviews and outgoings recovery
- Arrears, breaches and terminations
- Assignments, subleases and renewals
For tenants
- Lease review before you sign or pay
- Negotiating rent, incentives and make-good
- Legal advice reports for retail leases
- Exercising options correctly
- Buying or selling a business with a lease
- Signing a heads of agreement that is binding
- No disclosure statement for a retail lease
- Options lost by missing the exercise date
- Outgoings far higher than estimated
- Make-good costs not budgeted
- Permitted use too narrow for the business
- Personal guarantees given without limit
- Lease not registered before the property is sold
- Relocation or demolition clauses overlooked
- Assignment refused when selling the business
How we help — our difference
We read leases with the commercial result in mind — what it will cost and how it could end — and negotiate the points that matter. Your matter is handled personally by an experienced solicitor, not passed to a clerk.
- Lease drafting and review
- Retail shop lease disclosure and advice reports
- Negotiation of key terms
- Option dates and renewals tracked
- Assignments and business sales
- Clear, fixed quoted fees
Leasing premises? Talk to us before you sign.
A short first phone call is free. Detailed advice on your situation is given at a paid consultation, by appointment.
General information only, current as at October 2026 — not legal advice for your situation. Laws, fees and duty rates change, so we confirm the current position before advising you. Official information: Queensland Small Business Commissioner – retail shop lease forms.