Good Lawyer Guide's response

As your lease is a legally binding contract committing you for a specific numbers of years, it has to be ended properly otherwise you could have problems. You could sell on the lease to another business but you will have to find a buyer; your landlord will also have to consent to the new tenant before you can proceed.

You could also use the break clause in the lease which means you must give written notice to the landlord but you must have paid up all the rent and service charges due to exercise the break clause. Another option is to agree to ‘surrender’ the lease if you can negotiate this with the landlord. However the landlord may ask for a payment from you to do this, depending on how much difficulty he could have in reletting the property. This could prove more difficult as we recover from a recession. Talk to your landlord and see what you can negotiate.

Praveen Chaudhari's response

In the first instance you need to know the terms of your existing lease and in particular the length of the term of the lease and whether there is a break clause.

Daniel Stanton's response

Depending on the desirability of the location and the length of lease remaining, you could look to market the lease to a third party, who would then take assignment of the lease.

You would need to pay the landlord's legal and potentially survey costs (typically around £1,000-£1,500 but can be more) and you will usually have to pay even if your application is not successful (there are ways of protecting yourself here though).

Depending on the wording of your lease, you will usually have to guarantee the next tenant in line, and you will have to decide whether this is preferable to retaining the lease or agreeing a settlement with the landlord.