So, you've found the ideal location to start your new business, or you're moving an existing business to a better site.

You've agreed the rent terms with the Landlord and all you need do is sign the weighty (and dull-looking) lease in front of you. So you sign up, safe in the knowledge that provided you pay your rent on time, everything will be fine.

If only life were that simple. Occasionally on the Business Page I shall highlight some of the unforeseen costs often hidden in the small print of leases. By the end of the series I hope to have outlined the major issues of which any tenant should be aware before signing a lease.

A fundamental concern is a commercial lease containing 'full repairing and insuring terms'. This means that the tenant is responsible for all repairs to the property and may even have to return the property to the landlord in a better state of repair than when the lease began.

If spotted before completion, the tenant may be able to renegotiate and include in the lease a formal schedule recording the condition of the premises at the start of the tenancy.

If this cannot be agreed, then the tenant should have a full survey of the property carried out. This action may spare the tenant from costly repairs when his lease expires.

James Dale is a partner with Lee & Priestley solicitors.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.