Commercial Lease / Lease for Office Premises

This Commercial Lease Agreement can be used when a commercial property is being rented from a landlord (or lessor) to a tenant (or lessee).

For commercial properties, this Lease will provide a quick and easy way to outline all of the terms of the agreement between the parties.

This Lease will create a legally binding contract between the parties, outlining the rights and responsibilities of both the landlord and the tenant. This lease contains a number of variable terms, including:

• whether the parties are renting part or all of a property
• whether other items (such as fixtures) are being included with the lease
• the duration of the lease
• whether the tenant will have options to renew the lease
• the amount of rent and the frequency of payments
• whether a security deposit will be held
• what the tenant can do with the property
• how the agreement can be terminated
• the parties' rights after a breach

How to use this document

The completed document should be provided to all parties (including any guarantors, if applicable). Each party should be given the opportunity to read the agreement and may need some time to do this given the length of the document.

The Lease Deed would need to be printed on non-judicial stamp paper or e-stamp paper which is available in certain states. The value of the stamp paper would depend on the state in which it is executed as well as the duration of the lease and the lease rent. Each state in India has provisions in respect of the amount of stamp duty payable on the lease deed and the same would need to be determined based on the specific facts of the case. Information regarding the stamp duty payable can be found on the State government websites. For instance, the website of the state of Karnataka provides details of stamp duty payable on lease deeds.

After printing the document on stamp paper or e-stamp paper, as applicable, both parties should sign the lease deed and each party should keep a copy of the lease deed.

Pursuant thereto, the lease deed would need to be registered if the period of lease is more than one year. For the purposes of registration, both the lessor and lessee have to go to the sub-registrar office.

Applicable law

The provisions of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 are applicable to the lease of commercial premises. Further, the Goods and Services Tax may also be applicable on the lease under the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2016.

In terms of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 read with the Registration Act, 1908 all leases for terms of more than one year are compulsorily registrable. However, leases for a duration of one year or less do not need to be registered with the Sub-registrar.

In some states in India, such as Maharashtra, a leave and licence agreement is more commonly used for the lease of commercial premises.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.