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Commercial Real Estate Agents

Commercial Real Estate Agents: directory of firms

British occupiers and investors talk about commercial property agents rather than commercial realtors, and the work sits somewhere between broking and advisory. A commercial agent finds tenants for offices, industrial units, shops and warehouses, disposes of investments, acquires on behalf of occupiers, and negotiates the heads of terms that a solicitor later turns into a lease. Many of the people doing it are chartered surveyors, and the firm may carry RICS regulation, but neither is a legal requirement.

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What does bite is the lease law underneath the deal. A business tenancy in England and Wales is presumed to carry security of tenure under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 unless the parties have contracted out before the lease is granted, and that single point changes the value of the deal more than almost anything else agreed at heads of terms stage.

The compulsory consumer protections that govern residential agency work differ here. Redress scheme membership is a duty on agents dealing with residential property; a purely commercial practice sits outside it. HMRC's anti-money-laundering register, however, explicitly names commercial estate agencies, so supervision does apply.

The commercial agency disciplines

  • Landlord agency, marketing vacant space and advising on rent, incentives and lease structure.
  • Occupier or tenant representation, searching the market and negotiating on the occupier's side of the table.
  • Investment agency, selling and buying income-producing assets where the buyer is pricing a cash flow rather than a building.
  • Sector specialists in industrial and logistics, offices, retail and leisure, roadside, healthcare or student accommodation.
  • Lease advisory, which handles rent reviews and lease renewals rather than transactions.
  • Development and land agency, dealing with sites, planning risk and pre-let or forward funding structures.

The RICS professional statement on commercial agency

RICS publishes UK Commercial Real Estate Agency, a professional statement that sets out the responsibilities of commercial property agents and the principles of fairness and transparency expected of them. It supersedes the earlier UK commercial and real estate agency standards, and it binds RICS members and RICS-regulated firms rather than the market at large.

That distinction matters when you choose an adviser. RICS itself notes that it regulates only its members and regulated firms, and that some surveyors are neither. Instructing an RICS-regulated firm buys you a published conduct standard, a complaints route and an independent disciplinary process; instructing outside it means your only remedies are contractual.

Security of tenure and contracting out of the 1954 Act

Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 gives most business tenants in England and Wales the right to have their tenancy continue after the contractual term ends and to apply for a new one, subject to statutory grounds of opposition. Section 24 is the provision that keeps the tenancy alive rather than letting it simply expire.

Parties can agree to exclude that protection, but only by following the statutory procedure before the lease is granted, which involves a landlord's warning notice and a declaration by the tenant. An agent should tell you at heads of terms stage whether the lease is to be inside or outside the Act, because a contracted-out lease has no renewal right at the end and is worth materially less to an occupier who has fitted out the space.

How a commercial letting or sale actually runs

  • Agree the instruction, the marketing strategy and the fee basis, and confirm whether the agent is acting for you alone.
  • Assemble the pack: floor areas on a stated measurement basis, an energy performance certificate, service charge history and any rates information.
  • Market the space, qualify interest and report it, then negotiate heads of terms covering rent, term, break rights, rent free period, repairing obligation and whether the lease is inside or outside the 1954 Act.
  • Heads of terms are usually subject to contract, so nothing binds until the lease or sale contract is completed.
  • Solicitors then negotiate the lease itself, while the agent handles measurement queries, schedules of condition and any licence for alterations.
  • Completion is followed by registration, rates notification and, on a letting, the first service charge demand.

Business rates and energy standards attach to the space, not the agent

Business rates are charged on most non-domestic property, and GOV.UK gives shops, offices, pubs, warehouses and factories as examples. Liability usually follows occupation, which means an occupier taking a lease inherits a rating assessment it did not set. Where a property has been split, merged or altered, the assessment may no longer reflect reality, and there is a formal route to challenge the valuation.

Minimum energy efficiency standards apply to non-domestic private rented property in their own right, with separate GOV.UK landlord guidance from the domestic version. An agent who cannot tell you the energy rating of the space, or whether an exemption has been registered, has not done the basic work on the instruction.

Recurring problems in commercial instructions

  • A quoting rent agreed without pinning down the incentive package, so the headline rent and the effective rent diverge.
  • Floor areas quoted on an unstated basis, which makes competing buildings impossible to compare properly.
  • Silence at heads of terms about whether the lease is contracted out of the 1954 Act.
  • A full repairing and insuring obligation taken on an ageing building with no schedule of condition attached.
  • Empty rates liability after a lease expires, which surprises landlords who expected a void to be cost-free.
  • The same firm acting for both sides without a clear, written conflict management arrangement.

How commercial agency fees are structured

  • Letting fees are usually expressed as a percentage of the first year's rent, sometimes with a higher rate on joint or multiple agency.
  • Investment sale fees are a percentage of the price, occasionally with an incentive step above an agreed threshold.
  • Acquisition instructions may be a percentage of rent or price, a fixed fee, or a retainer plus success fee.
  • Marketing costs such as boards, brochures, portal listings and drone photography are often billed separately from the fee.
  • Lease advisory work on a rent review is frequently charged on the saving achieved, which creates an incentive worth understanding before you sign.
  • A written confirmation of instruction that states exactly what triggers payment avoids nearly every fee dispute in this market.

Commercial Real Estate Agents: frequently asked questions

Does a commercial property agent have to be a chartered surveyor?

No. There is no licensing requirement for commercial agency in the UK and anyone may trade. Chartered status brings the surveyor under RICS regulation and the RICS commercial agency professional statement, which is why many occupiers and institutional landlords insist on it. RICS points out that some surveyors are not members of, or regulated by, RICS, so membership is worth checking rather than assuming.

Do commercial agents have to belong to a redress scheme?

The statutory redress duty is aimed at agents dealing with residential property, and at letting agents and property managers in England and Wales. A purely commercial practice generally falls outside it, which is one reason commercial clients rely on RICS regulation and on the terms of the contract instead. Mixed firms that also handle residential work are caught for that part of the business.

What does it mean if a lease is outside the 1954 Act?

It means the tenant has no statutory right to renew when the term ends and must vacate unless the landlord chooses to offer a new lease. The exclusion must be put in place before the lease is granted, using the statutory notice and declaration procedure. It is a commercial point, not a formality, and it should be settled in the heads of terms rather than discovered in the draft lease.

Who pays the business rates on a property I lease?

In most cases the occupier is liable, and business rates are charged on most non-domestic property including shops, offices, warehouses and factories. Ask for the current rateable value before you commit, and check whether the assessment still matches the physical unit after any split, merger or alteration, because there is a formal process for challenging a valuation that no longer reflects the property.

Can one agent act for both the landlord and the tenant?

It happens, but it needs to be disclosed and managed in writing, and you should know before you share your negotiating position. If the agent is being paid by the other side, treat its advice as marketing rather than representation, and consider instructing your own adviser for anything that turns on rent, incentives or lease terms.

Is an energy performance certificate needed for commercial space?

Non-domestic private rented property is subject to its own minimum energy efficiency standard, with separate GOV.UK guidance for landlords, and exemptions have to be registered rather than simply asserted. Ask for the certificate and, where the rating is weak, ask what improvement work or registered exemption sits behind the letting.

Sources

  1. RICS: UK Commercial Real Estate Agency, 1st edition
  2. RICS: Regulation
  3. Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, Part II
  4. Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, section 24
  5. GOV.UK: Business rates
  6. GOV.UK: Non-domestic private rented property minimum energy efficiency standard
  7. GOV.UK: Money laundering supervision for estate agency businesses

Written by the LokalMatch editorial team. Last reviewed 22 September 2026. How we write and check our guides

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What affects the fees commercial real estate agents charge

Fees depend on the work involved and how the professional bills. We only publish fee ranges when they’re backed by real LokalMatch data or reliable sources. Until then, here’s what usually changes the fee:

  • Scope and complexity of the work
  • How the professional bills: hourly, flat fee or retainer
  • Experience and seniority of the person doing the work
  • Deadlines and how urgent the work is
  • Third-party costs such as filing, registration or government fees

How to compare commercial real estate agents before you hire

  • Check that they are licensed or registered for this work where you live, on the regulator’s public register.
  • Look for experience with matters like yours, and ask who will actually handle your file.
  • Ask how they charge before any work starts, and get the terms in writing.
  • Compare two or three professionals before you decide.
  • Be wary of anyone who guarantees a particular outcome.

Questions to ask commercial real estate agents before you hire

  • Are you licensed or registered for this work, and with which body?
  • Have you handled matters like mine before?
  • Who will do the work, and who will I deal with day to day?
  • How do you charge: hourly, a flat fee or a retainer?
  • What is included in your fee, and what costs extra?
  • Will you confirm the scope and fees in a written engagement letter?
  • Do you carry professional liability insurance?

Licences and registration

This kind of work is often limited to licensed or registered professionals, and the rules depend on where you are. Ask which body they’re registered with, and check their status on that body’s public register before you hire.

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