A commercial letting is not a home letting with a bigger number on it. The law is different, the paperwork is different and the people are different. We appraise the property, market it, support the heads of terms, reference the business, work with your solicitor on the lease, then collect the rent and manage the building.
Head office for commercial property in Durham
Hello New Home started here. The office on Central Business Park is where every area's contracts, compliance and rent collection are run from.
WhatsApp 0751 355 2133 · Phone 01792 807 051
Head office appraises and lets commercial property in Durham directly, with the local team on hand for viewings.
Postcode districts covered: DH1, DH2, DH3, DH4, DH5, DH6, DH7, DH8, DH9, DL4, DL5, DL12, DL13, DL14, DL15, DL16, DL17.
The residential rulebook does not apply, and a different one does. These are the points we build into every commercial appraisal in Durham.
Tenancy deposit protection is for residential tenancies of homes (assured tenancies in England, occupation contracts in Wales). A commercial rent deposit is held under a rent deposit deed that sets out the amount, where the money sits, when the landlord may draw on it and when it goes back.
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 governs residential tenancies in England, and the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 does the same in Wales. Neither reaches a shop, office or unit let to a business, so there is no periodic tenancy by default, no written statement of terms in that form and no once-a-year rent increase procedure of that kind.
Right to Rent checks apply to adults occupying a home. A business occupier is referenced as a business: accounts, trading history, references, and a guarantor or a rent deposit where the covenant is thin.
By default a business tenant has the right to a new lease when the old one ends. Landlord and tenant can contract out of that right, but only with the statutory warning notice served and the tenant's declaration made before the lease is signed. We put the choice in the heads of terms; your solicitor serves the notice.
A non-domestic property has needed an EPC rating of E or better to be let since 1 April 2023, unless an exemption is registered. The government has proposed raising that minimum to C by 2027 and B by 2030. We check the rating, the expiry and the exemption position at the appraisal and say what works, if any, the rating needs.
The occupier pays the rates once let. An empty property is the owner's liability after the relief period (three months for most property, six for industrial), so a vacant unit is appraised with the rates bill and the letting timetable side by side.
Commercial rent is exempt from VAT unless the owner has opted to tax the building, in which case VAT is charged on the rent and on the service charge and other sums the lease treats as rent; a deposit attracts VAT only when it is drawn on. Whether to opt is a decision for you and your accountant; we make sure the lease and the invoices follow it.
The RICS professional statement that sets out how heads of terms are negotiated and recorded: in writing, in plain terms, covering rent, term, breaks, repairs, rent review, alienation and the 1954 Act position before solicitors are instructed. Our heads of terms follow it.
Use class, floor area, lease position, EPC and MEES, rates, service charge, fit-out, access, parking and planning constraints, gathered on the visit and written up by head office with a rent and a letting timetable.
Particulars with plans and photographs, the commercial portals, agency boards where they help, and viewings.
Heads of terms drafted to the 2020 Code, the business referenced on its accounts and trading record, and the deposit or guarantor agreed before anyone instructs a solicitor.
Drafted and completed by your solicitor on the agreed heads of terms, with the 1954 Act notice and declaration where the lease is to be contracted out. We are not solicitors and do not draft leases.
Quarterly or monthly rent collected and chased, service charge accounts, repairs under the lease, insurance renewals, inspections, and rent reviews and lease renewals when the dates come round.
Fees are quoted after the appraisal.
Every commercial instruction is priced on the property, the lease and the work it needs. You receive the fee in writing with the appraisal, before you decide anything.
The head office team: WhatsApp 0751 355 2133, phone 01792 807 051. Head office 01792 807 051, Monday to Friday 9am to 5.30pm, or lettings@hellonewhome.co.uk.
Message on WhatsAppWithin two working days you receive a written appraisal: a rent and the lease terms the market will bear, the EPC and MEES position, the rates picture, what the property needs before it can be let, and our fee in writing. The head office team will visit if you would like.
No obligation. If the property would let better another way, we say so.
Send your request on WhatsApp (fastest), or by email. Your details are below if you would rather copy them.
No. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 governs residential tenancies in England. A business lease is governed by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, the lease itself and the general law of contract, which is why the paperwork and the timetable are different.
No. Tenancy deposit protection applies to residential tenancies of homes (assured tenancies in England, occupation contracts in Wales). A commercial rent deposit is held under a rent deposit deed that says how much, where it sits, when it can be drawn on and when it is returned.
By default a business tenant has the right to renew the lease when it ends. Landlord and tenant can agree to exclude that right, but only by serving the statutory warning notice and the tenant making the declaration before the lease is signed. Your solicitor handles the notice; we make sure it is in the heads of terms.
Not without a registered exemption. Non-domestic property needs an E or better to be let, and the government has proposed tightening that to C and then B. We check the rating and the exemption position at the appraisal.
The occupier, once let. Empty property is the owner's liability after the relief period, which is why a vacant unit is appraised with the rates bill in mind.
This page is a summary of the position in England and Wales in October 2026, not legal advice. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own commercial property law (no Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 security of tenure, separate EPC, rates and VAT practice), so this page does not describe them. Your solicitor advises on the lease; your accountant advises on VAT and rates.