Here’s an example. You took a lease of premises described as “the first floor offices”. There is no one else on the first floor. It seems a reasonable way of defining what you are leasing. But what if there is a cleaner’s cupboard on the landing? You thought it was included, but it is not obviously part of the office.
Or you lease “the restaurant and bar on the ground floor and basement”. But maybe there is a storage cupboard you need under the communal stairs to the upper parts, or a bin store which is accessed from the side passage. Unless you specify those, they won’t be included.
If you are taking an entire building, the postal address may seem enough to adequately describe what exactly is being leased to you. But does that make it clear whether it includes the forecourt or the back yard?
Simply describing the premises you are going to lease in general common-sense terms is often not enough.
The best way to guarantee that what you eventually end up with is exactly what you intended to have – and need to have – is to insist on having a plan.
A plan will be compulsory if you are taking a lease for seven years or more, because you then have to register the lease at the Land Registry, and the Land Registry insist on having a precise plan – it’s the only way to tell exactly what is included or excluded.
The almost universal method is to show the premises being leased on the plan by drawing a red line round the outer borders of the premise. That way any cupboards, external areas, or storage areas accessed from outside will all be included.
What is necessary, of course is that you go over that plan with a magnifying glass to check that it is exactly right. You should really do that while walking round the property (maybe not literally with a magnifying glass).