Guide

A commercial lease negotiation: drafts, plans and financials in one place.

Taking a new commercial lease, renewing one or agreeing a rent review involves more documents than most businesses expect. The landlord wants to know the tenant can pay. The tenant wants to know what it is committing to. Brokers, lawyers and sometimes a bank sit in between, and drafts go back and forth for weeks.

This guide covers the documents usually involved and how to keep the negotiation organised.

What each side usually provides

From the landlord

  • The draft deed of lease, often based on the Auckland District Law Society form, and any agreement to lease.
  • Floor plans, the area measurement and the car parking schedule.
  • The outgoings budget and the previous year's reconciliation.
  • Building reports, seismic ratings and the building warrant of fitness.
  • Details of landlord's works and any incentives offered.

From the tenant

  • Financial statements, and sometimes management accounts or a business plan for a new business.
  • Company details, the NZBN and the directors who may give personal guarantees.
  • Guarantors' personal financial information, if the landlord asks for it.
  • Fit-out plans, proposed use and any consents the tenant will need.
  • Bank guarantee or bond arrangements.

A negotiation room

  1. 1

    Separate the two sides

    Create a room with a shared folder for drafts and plans, and a folder for each side's private material.

  2. 2

    Keep drafts in order

    Upload each revised draft as a new version. Everyone sees the current draft, and earlier drafts stay in the version history.

  3. 3

    Protect guarantor information

    Put personal financial statements in a view-only folder that only the landlord's decision makers can open.

  4. 4

    Ask and answer in place

    Questions about outgoings, make-good or the rent review clause are raised and answered inside the room.

Points that come up again and again

Outgoings disputes often start because nobody can find the budget the tenant was shown when the lease was signed. Keeping the negotiation room, with its versions and its audit log, gives both sides a record of what was provided and when.

Rent reviews are a second common flashpoint. Keeping the valuer's report, the market evidence each side relied on and the correspondence in the same room means the next review starts from a record rather than from memory.

Personal guarantees bring personal information into the deal. New Zealand's privacy law expects it to be protected and used only for the purpose it was given. In ShareAndGo, view-only folders are rendered on our side and watermarked with the reader's name, email address and the date, so the original never reaches their browser, and you choose which group can open them.

Agents often handle several prospective tenants for one space. Each prospective tenant can have its own group, seeing the plans and outgoings but not another party's financials or offer. A folder a group cannot see does not appear for its members.

Lease documents from earlier tenancies are often old scans. ShareAndGo reads text from scanned documents, so search finds a clause or a date inside them, with highlighted snippets.

When the deed is ready, SignAndGo opens on the same MyAndGo login to send it for signature, and BookAndGo can arrange the site visit.

Frequently asked questions

Who should own the room, the landlord or the tenant?
Whoever is coordinating, often the landlord's agent or the tenant's adviser. The owner sets the groups and permissions for both sides.
Can the room stay open for the life of the lease?
Yes. Many landlords keep the lease, the signed deed and each year's outgoings reconciliation in the same room, with the tenant's group able to read them.
Does the other side need an account?
No. Readers confirm their email with a six-digit code. Password links are an option.