Commercial lease clause guide

Background

Capitalised words in the lease (Premises, Rent, Outgoings, Common Areas and so on) have the meanings set out in the Interpretation clause. Defining a word once keeps every clause consistent.

Why it matters

A definition quietly controls every clause that uses it. A wide definition of Outgoings or Premises, for example, changes what the tenant pays and what the tenant must repair.

Ways to negotiate it

• Check the key definitions against the agreed deal rather than deleting this clause.
• If a definition needs to change, change it in the Interpretation clause so it flows through the whole lease.

Background

Rent is the tenant’s core obligation. The lease also passes through outgoings (rates, insurance, building running costs) and sets how and when money is paid. For retail shop leases, the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Qld) controls which outgoings can be recovered and requires estimates and audited statements.

Why it matters

Payment timing, outgoings recovery and default interest are where most day-to-day disputes arise. The cost of outgoings can be as significant as the rent itself.

Ways to negotiate it

• Monthly in advance is standard; quarterly or weekly payment can be agreed.
• Tenant: ask for an estimate of outgoings, a cap on annual increases, and exclusion of capital costs and the landlord’s own management fees.
• Landlord: keep the right to adjust the estimate and reconcile after the financial year.

Payments

Background

Sets out the tenant’s obligation to pay rent and its share of outgoings, and the annual reconciliation of outgoings against the estimate.

Why it matters

This is the clause that makes the tenant liable for outgoings at all. Its wording decides whether the tenant pays a share of every building cost or only listed items.

Ways to negotiate it

• Gross lease: rent includes outgoings and the tenant pays nothing extra.
• Semi-gross: tenant pays only some outgoings (often rates and water).
• Net lease: tenant pays its agreed proportion of all outgoings.
• Tenant: require the reconciliation to be supported by an audited or itemised statement.

Manner of payment

Background

Market practice: rent is paid by equal monthly instalments in advance, with the first and last instalments apportioned daily.

Why it matters

Payment timing interacts with the default and interest clauses. Late payment by even a day can be a breach if rent is an essential term.

Ways to negotiate it

• Choose the payment day to suit the tenant’s cash flow (for example the 1st or 15th).
• Allow direct debit or a set bank account, and require the landlord to give written notice of any change of account.

Charges for electricity

Background

Where the landlord on-supplies electricity through its own meters, the tenant reimburses the landlord. On-selling electricity is regulated, and limits on what can be charged may apply.

Why it matters

Tenants in shopping centres and multi-tenant buildings can pay more for on-supplied power than they would buying directly from a retailer.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: require charges to be no more than the tenant would pay a retailer on a standard tariff.
• Tenant: ask for separate metering so the tenant can choose its own retailer.
• Delete if the premises are separately metered and the tenant contracts directly with a retailer.

Interest

Background

Default interest compensates the landlord for late payment. Courts will not enforce a charge that operates as a penalty, meaning one out of all proportion to the landlord’s legitimate interest in being paid on time: Andrews v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (2012) 247 CLR 205; Paciocco v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (2016) 258 CLR 525.

Why it matters

A rate that is too high risks being unenforceable. A rate that is too low gives the tenant no reason to pay on time.

Ways to negotiate it

• Set the rate as a margin over a published benchmark rate rather than a fixed high figure.
• Tenant: interest runs only after a short grace period or written demand.
• Landlord: interest runs from the due date without demand.

GST

Background

Commercial rent is generally a taxable supply under A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (Cth) when the landlord is registered for GST. If a lease does not allow GST to be added, the rent is generally treated as including GST, so the landlord effectively absorbs one-eleventh of it.

Why it matters

This clause makes rent and other amounts GST-exclusive and lets the landlord add GST on top.

Ways to negotiate it

• Keep the clause and state amounts as “plus GST” in the schedule.
• Tenant: require a valid tax invoice before GST is payable.
• Only agree to GST-inclusive rent deliberately, as a commercial concession.

Background

Rent reviews adjust the rent during the term. The master offers three methods: fixed percentage increases, CPI increases and market reviews. The method that applies follows the agreed Rent review term. For retail shop leases, the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Qld) restricts how rent can be reviewed and makes ratchet clauses void (s 27).

Why it matters

Over a five-year term with options, the review method can change the total rent paid more than the starting rent does.

Ways to negotiate it

• Fixed increases give both parties certainty.
• CPI tracks inflation but is unpredictable.
• Market reviews suit longer leases and option periods but are costly if disputed.
• Tenant: seek a cap on increases; landlord: seek a floor (collar).

Fixed review

Background

Rent increases by a fixed percentage on set dates. This is the most common method in small commercial leases because it is simple and certain.

Why it matters

The percentage compounds. At 4% a year the rent rises by about 22% over five years.

Ways to negotiate it

• Agree a lower percentage in exchange for a longer term.
• Use fixed increases during the initial term and a market review at the start of each option.

Cpi review

Background

Rent is adjusted by the change in the Consumer Price Index, usually the Brisbane or eight capital cities figure published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Why it matters

CPI can move sharply in periods of high inflation, and the formula matters: the index series, the quarter used and what happens if the index is discontinued.

Ways to negotiate it

• Name the exact CPI series and a replacement index if it stops being published.
• Tenant: cap the increase at a set percentage.
• Landlord: combine CPI with a minimum increase.

Market review

Background

Rent is reset to current market rent, determined by a valuer if the parties cannot agree. A valuer appointed as an expert gives a binding determination that is generally not open to challenge unless it was not made in accordance with the lease: Legal & General Life of Australia Ltd v A Hudson Pty Ltd (1985) 1 NSWLR 314.

Why it matters

The assumptions the valuer must use decide the result. This master tells the valuer to make no reduction for incentives offered in the market, which values the premises at face rent rather than effective rent and favours the landlord.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: require incentives to be taken into account (effective rent).
• Specify the valuer’s qualifications and who appoints them if the parties cannot agree.
• Agree who pays the valuer, or split the cost.
• Tenant: add a cap, or at least remove any ratchet, at market review.

Rent not to decrease

Background

A ratchet clause stops the rent going down on review. Ratchet clauses are void in Queensland retail shop leases (Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Qld) s 27), but are enforceable in other commercial leases.

Why it matters

In a falling market the tenant keeps paying above-market rent, and a ratchet on a market review defeats the purpose of reviewing to market.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: delete the ratchet, or limit it to fixed and CPI reviews.
• Compromise: rent may fall on a market review, but by no more than a set percentage.
• Landlord: keep the ratchet on non-retail leases, especially where financing depends on the rent.

Payment of rent prior to review

Background

The tenant keeps paying the existing rent until a disputed review is determined, and the difference is adjusted back to the review date.

Why it matters

Without this clause there is uncertainty about what is payable while a review is in dispute.

Ways to negotiate it

• Keep it; it protects both parties.
• Tenant: agree a time limit for refunds of any overpayment.

Background

The permitted use states what the tenant may use the premises for. The landlord gives no warranty that the premises are suitable for that use. At common law there is no implied warranty that unfurnished premises are fit for the tenant’s purpose (Hart v Windsor (1843) 12 M & W 68), so the tenant must check town planning approvals under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld), building compliance and any body corporate by-laws before signing.

Why it matters

A narrow use protects the landlord’s tenancy mix but restricts the tenant’s ability to change or sell its business. It is also where exclusivity is negotiated.

Ways to negotiate it

• Narrow use (for example “physiotherapy clinic”) versus a broad use (“any lawful purpose approved by the landlord”).
• Exclusive or non-exclusive: should the landlord be barred from leasing other premises in the building or centre to a competing business?
• If exclusive: define the competing uses, the area covered, carve-outs for existing tenants, and what the tenant gets if the landlord breaches it (rent reduction or a right to terminate).
• Tenant: make the lease conditional on obtaining planning and other approvals for the use.

Use of premises

Background

Requires the tenant to open and actively use the premises for the permitted use, and records that the landlord does not warrant that the premises are suitable. At common law there is no implied warranty of fitness for purpose in a lease of unfurnished premises (Hart v Windsor (1843) 12 M & W 68).

Why it matters

This is where the parties decide whether the permitted use is exclusive. Exclusivity is valuable to a tenant whose trade depends on having no competitor next door, but it limits the landlord’s future leasing. In shopping centres, restrictive provisions can raise competition law issues under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), and have attracted ACCC scrutiny.

Ways to negotiate it

• Non-exclusive (the default in this master): the landlord may lease to anyone, including competitors.
• Exclusive: the landlord must not lease other premises in the building or centre for a defined competing use. Define the use precisely, the area covered, any existing tenants excluded, and the remedy for breach.
• Partial exclusivity: limited to the tenant’s main trade, or for a set period only.
• Tenant: ask for a landlord warranty that the use is permitted under the planning scheme, or a condition that approval is obtained.

Conduct

Background

Standard restrictions on how the tenant uses the premises: no nuisance, no hazardous goods, no overloading, compliance with laws.

Why it matters

Some restrictions can conflict with the tenant’s actual business (for example cooking, noise, animals or late trading).

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: carve out activities that are part of the permitted use.
• Landlord: keep the general prohibitions and consent for anything else.

Tenant’s obligation

Background

Requires the tenant to comply with laws, notices and requirements affecting its use of the premises.

Why it matters

If a council or authority requires structural work, the wording decides who pays. Tenants usually accept work caused by their particular use, but not structural or building-wide work.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: limit the obligation to requirements arising from the tenant’s particular use.
• Landlord: keep the tenant responsible for compliance triggered by its business.

Background

The tenant keeps the premises in good repair, except fair wear and tear and structural repairs. The standard of repair is judged by the age, character and locality of the premises (Proudfoot v Hart (1890) 25 QBD 42).

Why it matters

Repair and painting obligations are a common source of end-of-lease disputes and cost.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: record the condition at the start (entry condition report and photos) and limit repair to that standard.
• Tenant: remove the end-of-lease repainting obligation, or limit it to damage.
• Landlord: keep the air-conditioning service obligation and the right to recover costs through outgoings.
• Exclude defects existing at the start of the lease and structural or latent defects.

Repair

Background

Tenant repair and maintenance obligations, including glass, lighting, air conditioning (with a service contract) and repainting in the last year of the term.

Why it matters

Repainting and air-conditioning replacement can be expensive. “Repair” can extend to replacing plant that is beyond repair.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: exclude replacement of air-conditioning plant and capital items.
• Tenant: repaint only if the premises need it, or pay a set amount instead.
• Landlord: require a service contract and copies of service records.

Tenant’s works

Background

The tenant needs the landlord’s approval of plans, materials and builder before doing work to the premises.

Why it matters

Fit-out approval timing affects the tenant’s opening date and rent-free period.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: landlord approval not to be unreasonably withheld and given within a set time.
• Agree up front which works are pre-approved.
• Settle what must be removed at the end of the lease.

Background

The tenant cannot assign or sublet without the landlord’s consent. In Queensland, legislation implies that the landlord’s consent to an assignment or sublease cannot be unreasonably withheld. The Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) was replaced by the Property Law Act 2023 (Qld), which commenced on 1 August 2025. Section references to the 1974 Act in older precedents should be checked and updated. For retail shop leases, the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Qld) sets its own process and time limits.

Why it matters

This clause decides whether the tenant can sell its business with the lease, and whether the outgoing tenant and its guarantors stay liable afterwards.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: require a release of the outgoing tenant and guarantors once the assignment is completed.
• Tenant: set a time limit for the landlord to decide.
• Landlord: treat a change in control of a company tenant as an assignment.
• Limit the landlord’s costs of consent to reasonable costs.

Background

Sets the landlord’s rights (to make rules, manage the building, access the premises) and obligations (quiet enjoyment, insurance, services).

Why it matters

The balance between the landlord’s building management rights and the tenant’s right to run its business undisturbed is set here.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: require reasonable notice before access and minimal disruption.
• Tenant: building rules must be reasonable and not inconsistent with the lease.
• Landlord: keep flexibility to manage and change the building.

Quiet enjoyment

Background

A covenant for quiet enjoyment is implied into every lease at common law; this clause makes it express. The landlord breaches it by substantially interfering with the tenant’s possession or use: see Aussie Traveller Pty Ltd v Marklea Pty Ltd [1998] 1 Qd R 1.

Why it matters

This is the tenant’s main protection against disruption by the landlord, including building works.

Ways to negotiate it

• Keep it. Tenant: add rent reduction for loss of access or use caused by landlord works.

Rules

Background

Allows the landlord to make building rules that bind the tenant.

Why it matters

New rules can change trading conditions during the term.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: rules must be reasonable, apply to all tenants and not conflict with the lease.
• Attach the current rules to the lease.

Background

The tenant occupies at its own risk, releases the landlord from claims and indemnifies the landlord, and must hold public liability insurance (the schedule sets $20 million).

Why it matters

Release and indemnity clauses shift risk for injuries and damage from the landlord to the tenant, sometimes even where the landlord is at fault.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: exclude loss caused by the landlord’s negligence or breach.
• Tenant: limit the indemnity to loss caused by the tenant, its employees and invitees.
• Check the tenant’s insurer will cover the indemnity as written.

Background

Lists essential terms and the landlord’s rights on default. A lease can validly make obligations essential so that the landlord recovers damages for the loss of the whole bargain on termination: Gumland Property Holdings Pty Ltd v Duffy Bros Fruit Market (Campbelltown) Pty Ltd (2008) 234 CLR 237; see also Progressive Mailing House Pty Ltd v Tabali Pty Ltd (1985) 157 CLR 17. Before re-entry for most breaches, the landlord must give a statutory notice to remedy. The Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) was replaced by the Property Law Act 2023 (Qld), which commenced on 1 August 2025. Section references to the 1974 Act in older precedents should be checked and updated.

Why it matters

This clause decides how quickly a lease can be ended and how much the tenant may owe for the rest of the term.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: narrow the essential terms, and add grace periods before a late payment counts as default.
• Tenant: require written notice and a reasonable time to fix a breach before termination.
• Landlord: keep essential terms for rent and outgoings so loss-of-bargain damages are available.

Background

At the end of the lease the tenant must remove its property and make good. Property left behind can be dealt with by the landlord.

Why it matters

Make-good obligations can be costly, especially after a large fit-out.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: make good only to the condition at the start of the lease (use an entry condition report).
• Tenant: exclude the landlord’s own fit-out.
• Agree a cash payment instead of physical make-good.

Background

If the tenant stays on after the term with the landlord’s consent, it holds a monthly tenancy on the same terms.

Why it matters

This sets the terms that apply while a new lease or option is being negotiated.

Ways to negotiate it

• Landlord: increase rent during holding over.
• Agree the notice period to end the monthly tenancy (commonly one month).

Background

Sets out rent reduction and termination rights if the premises are damaged or become inaccessible. Frustration can apply to a lease in rare cases (National Carriers Ltd v Panalpina (Northern) Ltd [1981] AC 675), but an express clause gives certainty.

Why it matters

After a fire, flood or cyclone this clause decides whether rent stops and whether either party can walk away.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: rent reduction proportional to the part that cannot be used, including loss of access.
• Tenant: a right to terminate if the premises are not reinstated within a set time.
• Landlord: no obligation to rebuild if it is uneconomic or insurance does not cover it.

Background

Releases the landlord from its obligations once it sells and the buyer takes over the lease. Leases longer than three years should be registered to protect the tenant against a later buyer or mortgagee under the Land Title Act 1994 (Qld).

Why it matters

The tenant’s security deposit or bank guarantee and any landlord promises must pass to the buyer.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: the release applies only once the buyer agrees to be bound by the lease.
• Tenant: require the security to be transferred to the buyer.

Background

Boilerplate clauses that control how the rest of the lease operates: notices, waiver, entire agreement, severability, governing law.

Why it matters

They are rarely read closely, but they decide disputes about what was agreed and whether notices were validly given.

Ways to negotiate it

• Check the notice clause allows email, and that addresses are current.
• Check the entire agreement clause does not exclude promises the tenant relied on.

Notices

Background

Sets how notices must be given and when they are treated as received.

Why it matters

Option exercise, review and default notices can all fail if not served as the lease requires.

Ways to negotiate it

• Allow email to a nominated address, with a deemed time of receipt.
• Keep physical delivery available for termination notices.

Waiver negatived

Background

At common law, a landlord who accepts rent knowing of a breach can waive the right to forfeit for that breach (Matthews v Smallwood [1910] 1 Ch 777). This clause tries to prevent that.

Why it matters

It protects the landlord who keeps accepting rent while deciding how to respond to a breach, although conduct can still amount to waiver.

Ways to negotiate it

• Landlord: keep it.
• Tenant: generally acceptable, but raise breaches promptly in writing.

Entire agreement

Background

Says the lease is the whole agreement, excluding prior discussions and representations. It does not exclude liability for misleading or deceptive conduct under section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law (Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) Sch 2).

Why it matters

Promises made during negotiation (about foot traffic, fit-out contributions, exclusivity, approvals) may not be enforceable unless they are written into the lease.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: write every promise that matters into the lease or a special condition.
• Landlord: keep the clause; it reduces arguments about side promises.

Period for compliance with notice under section 124 1 proper

Background

Before forfeiting a lease for most breaches, the landlord had to give a notice to remedy under section 124 of the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld). This clause agrees what a reasonable time to remedy is. The Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) was replaced by the Property Law Act 2023 (Qld), which commenced on 1 August 2025. Section references to the 1974 Act in older precedents should be checked and updated.

Why it matters

The reference to section 124 is out of date for leases signed on or after 1 August 2025 and should be updated to the corresponding provision of the 2023 Act.

Ways to negotiate it

• Update the statutory reference.
• Tenant: agree a longer compliance period for non-monetary breaches.

Foreign ownership

Background

A foreign person acquiring an interest in Australian land, which can include some longer leases, may need approval under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth).

Why it matters

Without required approval the transaction can be unwound and penalties can apply.

Ways to negotiate it

• Keep the tenant’s warranty about its foreign-person status.
• If the tenant is a foreign person, make the lease conditional on any required approval.

Background

Gives the tenant the right to renew for a further term if it exercises the option within the set window and is not in breach. Options must be exercised strictly in accordance with their terms; a late or defective notice is generally ineffective.

Why it matters

The option is often the most valuable right a tenant has, particularly after a large fit-out, and it is easily lost.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: the no-breach condition should apply only to unremedied breaches the landlord has notified in writing.
• Tenant: diarise the exercise window and serve notice as the notice clause requires.
• Settle the rent at the start of the option (market review, with or without a cap or collar).
• Landlord: require fresh guarantees for the option term.

Background

The tenant gives a bank guarantee or cash bond the landlord can call on if the tenant defaults. Courts rarely stop a landlord calling on an unconditional bank guarantee: see Clough Engineering Ltd v Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd [2008] FCAFC 136.

Why it matters

The amount, what it can be called for, and when it is returned all matter to the tenant’s cash flow.

Ways to negotiate it

• Agree the amount (commonly three to six months’ rent plus GST).
• Tenant: return within a set period after the lease ends.
• Tenant: reduce the amount after a period of good payment.
• Landlord: require the security to be topped up after any call.

Background

Guarantors (usually the directors of a company tenant) are personally liable for the tenant’s obligations. Guarantees are construed strictly in favour of the guarantor, and a variation made without the guarantor’s consent can release them: Ankar Pty Ltd v National Westminster Finance (Australia) Ltd (1987) 162 CLR 549.

Why it matters

A director’s personal assets are at stake for the whole term and any option period.

Ways to negotiate it

• Guarantor: cap liability at a fixed amount or a number of months’ rent.
• Guarantor: release on a permitted assignment.
• Guarantor: limit the guarantee to the initial term, with fresh guarantees for any option.
• Landlord: include variations, holding over and options within the guarantee.

Background

The guarantee and indemnity signed by the guarantors. See the guarantee clause for the key principles; guarantees are read strictly in favour of the guarantor (Ankar Pty Ltd v National Westminster Finance (Australia) Ltd (1987) 162 CLR 549).

Why it matters

This is the document that makes the guarantors personally liable.

Ways to negotiate it

• Delete only if there are no guarantors.
• Guarantor: seek a cap and a release on assignment.

Background

Where the premises are a lot in a community titles scheme, the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld) and the scheme’s by-laws apply, and the tenant must comply with them.

Why it matters

By-laws can restrict signage, hours, noise and use in ways the lease does not mention.

Ways to negotiate it

• Delete if the premises are not in a community titles scheme.
• Tenant: ask for a copy of the by-laws before signing.

Background

Where the tenant is a trustee, it contracts personally but usually has a right of indemnity from the trust assets. The landlord wants warranties that the trustee has power to enter the lease and that its right of indemnity is not impaired.

Why it matters

If the trust has few assets, the landlord’s real security is the guarantee.

Ways to negotiate it

• Delete if the tenant is not a trustee.
• Trustee: seek to limit liability to the trust assets.
• Landlord: require a copy of the trust deed and guarantees from the directors of a corporate trustee.

Background

Records a deposit paid before the lease starts and how it is applied.

Why it matters

Sets whether the deposit becomes rent or security, and what happens if the lease does not proceed.

Ways to negotiate it

• Apply the deposit to the first month’s rent or to the security.
• Delete if no deposit was paid.

Background

Car parks are usually granted as a licence, not part of the leased premises, so the tenant has a right to use them rather than exclusive possession.

Why it matters

A licence can be ended or relocated more easily than leased premises.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: fix the number of bays and whether they are marked.
• Tenant: limit the landlord’s right to relocate bays.
• Settle whether a licence fee applies.

Background

Special conditions record deal-specific terms. In this workspace most special conditions are switched on or off in the Special conditions tab and follow the agreed terms.

Why it matters

Special conditions usually override the standard clauses, so they carry the commercial deal.

Ways to negotiate it

• To remove a special condition completely (and renumber the rest), turn it off in the Special conditions tab.
• Use Delete here only if you want the number kept with “Deleted intentionally”.

Relocation

Background

Allows the landlord to move the tenant to other premises in the building or centre. For retail shop leases, the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Qld) gives the tenant rights to notice and compensation where a lease allows relocation.

Why it matters

Relocation can destroy a tenant’s passing trade and waste its fit-out.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: delete, or require comparable premises, the landlord to pay relocation and fit-out costs, and a right to terminate instead.
• Landlord: keep for centres likely to be redeveloped.

Demolition

Background

Allows the landlord to end the lease early to demolish or redevelop. Retail shop leases carry statutory notice and compensation rights for demolition.

Why it matters

The tenant may lose its premises before recovering its fit-out costs.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: delete, or require a long notice period and compensation for unamortised fit-out.
• Landlord: keep where redevelopment is planned, and state a genuine proposal requirement.

Rent free period

Background

An incentive where no rent is paid for a period at the start of the lease.

Why it matters

Incentives are often clawed back if the lease ends early, and can affect market reviews.

Ways to negotiate it

• Tenant: no clawback unless the lease ends because of the tenant’s default.
• Set whether outgoings are still payable during the rent-free period.

Tenant’s first right of refusal

Background

Gives the tenant a first right to lease adjoining space or buy the property before it is offered to others.

Why it matters

Valuable for a growing business, but it restricts the landlord’s dealings.

Ways to negotiate it

• Set a clear process and time limit for the tenant to accept.
• Landlord: limit it to a defined area and to the initial term.

Personal property securities act

Background

Lets the landlord register a security interest under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) over goods the landlord supplies with the premises.

Why it matters

Without registration the landlord may lose goods it owns if the tenant becomes insolvent.

Ways to negotiate it

• Keep if the landlord supplies furniture, plant or equipment.
• Delete if the landlord supplies nothing but the premises.

Background

Defines the capitalised words used throughout the lease and sets the rules for reading it.

Why it matters

Every other clause depends on these definitions.

Ways to negotiate it

• Change individual definitions rather than deleting this clause.