Standardised legal fees introduced

We have standardised all legal fees until June 2010, improving consistency and delivering better value for money.

 

Director of Retail Property Management, David Tudor-Morgan, comments: “As part of our efforts to reduce costs for our retailers wherever possible, we identified that some lawyers were more expensive than others for similar work. We worked with our managing agents and lawyers to set fixed legal fees, improving consistency and delivering better value for money. Wherever feasible, our managing agents are also using their own standardised letter licences to minimise the need to commission lawyers, reducing legal costs for our retailers and speeding up the approvals process.”

We are also working with our managing agents to ensure that where necessary they always instruct lawyers within five days of receipt of all necessary information. We monitor this process to ensure that retailers obtain a reasonable service for the fees they are paying, taking into account the level of detail necessary and the requirements of the occupiers’ lawyers.

Standard managing agent fees*

• Letter licence £300
• Formal licence £500

Standard legal fees*

• Licence to assign £1,250, plus £300 for an authorised guarantor agreement if required
• Licence for alterations £1,350
• Licence to underlet £1,500

* Complex licences may incur additional costs.