The statutory regime, and its four conditions

A commercial lease may be oral, and sometimes it is. The tenant keeps the right to renewal after nine years, but can prove neither the 2 000 € rent agreed, nor the split of charges, nor the works that were promised.

A regime that applies without being asked for

A commercial lease is the rental contract of premises where a commercial, industrial or craft activity is carried on, serving the operation of a business. Signing one automatically triggers a body of rules the parties never have to invoke.

It is therefore not a regime chosen clause by clause. It triggers as soon as four conditions are met, and it is the fourth that most often decides the outcome of a disputed renewal.

• The existence of a lease contract, by which the landlord provides premises against a rent
• A building or premises for commercial, craft or industrial use, of a stable and permanent character
• The effective operation of a business in the premises, with its own clientele
• The registration of the tenant on the trade and companies register or on the national business register

Registration is only required to obtain renewal at the term, but forgetting it costs precisely what the regime protects. Where several tenants operate the business, each of them must be registered, with no exception.

The regime is not confined to the commercial lease in the strict sense. It also applies, under conditions, to teaching establishments, to municipal services run directly, to public undertakings and to certain cooperative companies.

The premises that come in, and those left out

The premises must present a stable and permanent character: the tenant must be assured of keeping possession throughout the contract, without the landlord being able to move them around at will.

Bare land falls outside the regime. But buildings erected on bare land with the written consent of the landlord — a tennis court with changing rooms, for instance — do benefit from it, and that written consent makes all the difference.

A dwelling may be let to a trader, provided it is converted into commercial premises. That supposes an authorisation to change the use, applied for at the town hall of the municipality where the premises stand.

The tenant may run the business under a management lease without losing the benefit of the regime. It is the tenant, not the manager, who keeps the right to renewal: the distinction turns on who holds the lease, not on who runs the shop.

Liberal professions sign a professional lease in principle. Landlord and tenant may nonetheless place that lease voluntarily under the commercial lease regime, provided both agree to it and set the agreement down in writing.

Writing, and the two cases of compulsory notarial deed

No form is imposed: the lease may be oral, written privately, or notarial. An oral lease stays valid, but it cannot bring to the tenant's knowledge either the environmental information or the split of charges between the parties.

A notarial deed becomes compulsory in two cases only: where the term of the lease exceeds twelve years, and where the lease covers licensed premises — a bar, a restaurant, a supermarket, a grocery or a wine merchant.

One point about cost, often discovered late: the fees for drawing up the lease and its amendments generally fall on the tenant. They can be negotiated, but custom does not work in the tenant's favour.