With lockdown restrictions easing and many employees back to work after a period of being furloughed, now is a good time to consider how you are going to move forward with your business premises.

Millions of people across the UK continue to work from home and as The Independent recently reported, the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock has suggested that: “Working from home where possible should continue beyond the Covid-19 pandemic and become the new ‘norm’.” This appetite is supported by data released by business networking site LinkedIn, revealing that the hunt for jobs using the filter preference ‘remote’ and key words such as ‘working from home’ has increased by 60% since March 2020.

On the flip side, the Office of National Statistics reported an increase in consumer demand for some goods, mainly because of the effects of retail ‘panic buying’, which has led to growth in a small number of manufacturing industries. Similarly, the technology industry has reported a spike in sales as a result of establishing solutions for businesses to continue to work remotely. With some businesses from these industries as well as some others seeing substantial growth in recent months, they now need to obtain more space and expand into larger premises.

To help businesses with this changing landscape, our commercial property team have created a useful guide for leaseholders of commercial premises looking to dispose of their business premises whether because they are surplus to their requirements or they are looking to expand into more space. This process is often referred to as ‘Alienation’.

The ‘Alienation’ guide can be accessed here, and covers:

• What is alienation?
  o What is an Assignment
  o What is an Underletting?
• How do I assign my lease?
• How do I underlet my lease?
• Other options
  o Surrender
  o Break Right

If your current business premises are no longer appropriate for your needs, our experienced team of commercial property solicitors can advise you on the various options available to you and the legal consequences of these.