Thinking of buying your business premises?

Companies intending to purchase their warehouses, workshops or offices are warned that they could lose their option to buy if there is a change of ownership of the buildings. This follows a Supreme Court decision handed down in June 2009 which ruled that the obligations arising from an option to purchase the leased property, granted by the landlord, are not automatically transferred to the purchaser of the property. “Essentially, a tenant that has been granted an option to purchase leased property has to ensure that it exercises its option to purchase the premises against the original grantor of the option,” says Bridgett Majola of Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys. “The key is, therefore, to exercise the option before the original landlord or grantor sells the premises or to ensure that the purchaser is given notice of and agrees to be bound by the option,” she says.