What are the MCL documents?
The Model Commercial Lease (MCL) comprises a family of templates for commercial leases and associated documents. They are freely available for anyone – landlords, tenants or others – to download from this website, without charge.
Users can then customise them to their particular requirements, or incorporate text from them into their own documents.
What versions of the lease are available?
Different versions of MCL leases are available to suit different types of commercial buildings such as offices, shops, shopping centre units and industrial/logistics units.
Additional clauses for inserting into the lease are also available to deal with specific requirements such as an option to renew or an offerback clause.
What other documents are available?
A rent deposit deed and various licences are available.
Who wrote the MCL documents?
The MCL is a client-led project. It was originally commissioned by the British Property Federation. A large number of well-known law firms, clients and trade organisations have been represented on the working group that produced the documents, or taken part in extensive informal consultations.
Will the MCL documents be kept up to date?
The working group that produced the MCL documents will keep them under review in the light of feedback from users, new law, court decisions and developments in market practice, and update them when appropriate.
Are the MCL documents drafted in favour of landlords?
The MCL is intended to avoid much of the unnecessary negotiation on most routine letting transactions by representing a fair starting (and, in many cases, end) point for both parties. Having said that, they have been prepared for use by landlords not by tenants.
Do I have to retain the logo on the MCL documents?
No. You can remove the logo if you wish, or replace it with your firm’s details.
Do I have to pay to use the MCL documents?
No. They are free for everyone to use. However, you use the MCL documents subject to the Conditions of Use on the MCL website.
Can I copy the MCL documents onto my own computer system?
Yes although you will need to ensure that you keep them up to date to reflect changes made to the documents on the MCL website.
How will I know if the MCL documents have been updated?
Updating of the MCL documents will be advertised on the News page of the MCL website. Also, if you subscribe to the RSS Feed, you will notified automatically when new items are added to the News page.
If you are using Google Chrome as your web browser, you will need to download and install an RSS Reader extension for Chrome from the Google Chrome webstore in order to receive RSS feeds.
Can I use the MCL documents as the starting point for my own precedent documents, and amend or delete the wording in places?
Yes
Can I use the text from the MCL documents within automated document drafting systems?
Yes
Does the MCL lease comply with the Code for Leasing Business Premises?
The MCL is largely compliant with the requirements of the Code for Leasing Business Premises (2007). An explanation of where the MCL does not comply exactly with the Code is contained in the document entitled “MCL’s compliance with the Code for Leasing Business Premises (2007)” on the Guidance page.
Will old versions of the MCL documents be retained?
Yes. Old versions will be available on the MCL website.
What do if I do if I wish to comment on one of the MCL documents?
We welcome feedback from users. Please use this Feedback page.