Selling Commercial Property Guide

By appointing The Frost Partnership commercial estate agency to represent you and your property for sale can make a significant difference to likely sale proceeds.

• Trust. The Frost Partnership has been operating in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Middlesex since 1990 but the Frost name in property goes back over 100 years to 1906; our testimonials reflect our success and valued reputation in the area.
• Expertise. We are qualified members of accredited trade bodies such as National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), qualified to provide expert professional services and advice. Read more about our credentials.
• Exposure. Our network of offices across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Middlesex provides your property with greater local exposure.

Once you have appointed The Frost Partnership to represent and market your commercial property, we will act quickly to prepare the property particulars and take photographs in preparation for marketing your property.

• ‘For Sale’ signboards. A signboard outside commercial property is still proven to be one of the best ways to increase local awareness and attention.
• Your property is instantly sent to active buyers looking for commercial properties like yours through our Property Alerts service.
• Your property will be featured on our website, and our website is advertised via national and international media publications and property web portals worldwide.
• We carry out networking, direct marketing and public relation events locally and internationally

The Frost family has specialised in selling land and property since 1906. Our network of estate agencies across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Middlesex instantly exposes your property to the widest range of buyers and investors.

In order to secure a quick or smooth sale it could be advantageous to have all the additional information about the property for sale available and ready for prospective buyers. This can make your property look more attractive, easier to purchase and save buyers considerable time and money. For example do you have:

• Planning permission, use classes and lawful use certificates
• Commercial Energy Performance Certificate (seller's responsibility to provide)
• Business rates and reliefs available (if available)
• Stamp Duty Land Tax – this is the buyer’s cost
• Utility services details
• Surveys and local searches including;
  • Topographical survey (If appropriate)
  • Asbestos survey
  • Ordnance survey
  • Environmental report
  • Site/ground investigation report

It is worth providing your commercial estate agent with information relating to any planning permission and lawful use certificates that your commercial property already has, as it may well result in your commercial property being more attractive to a wider range of potential buyers.

Commercial properties are divided into different categories and use class types limiting the business that can operate in the property. While some class types can be altered without the need to apply for conversion or change of use / planning permission – for example A2 types can change from being Financial and Professional Services when the properties have a display window at ground level - to A1 types, shops. Whereas, A2 financial and professional businesses require planning permission in order to change the use to A3 restaurant and cafes.

Table 1: Commercial property and use class.

Table 2: Commercial property use class types that can be changed to accommodate other use class types without the need for planning permission.

Your property’s EPC must be made available to potential buyers and it is a legal requirement for the seller to provide a commercial EPC to the commercial agent prior to marketing a property for sale. If your EPC is over 10 years old you need to arrange a new EPC. Please contact The Frost Partnership to arrange your EPC.

EPCs inform potential buyers about the energy performance of the property. Energy ratings vary from ‘A’ representing the most energy sufficient to ‘G’ the least energy efficient. A higher EPC rating could play a big role in making your commercial property more attractive to potential buyers.

If your commercial property falls into one of the following categories, you will not be required to supply a commercial EPC:

• Agricultural buildings or buildings with low energy demand
• Temporary premises that will be removed within two years
• Places of worship
• Premises that have a total floor area of less than 50 square meters

Read more about Energy Performance Certificates.

As soon as an offer is received we will contact you to communicate the full details of the offer along with any special conditions to help you decide whether or not to accept. There is no obligation to accept the first offer you receive. However, once you have decided to accept the offer, a draft Sale Agreement will be prepared for you and the purchaser to approve the following aspects of the contract.

• Details of the transaction
• The nature of the agreement
• The sale price and the payment method
• The proposed timeline of the process

We highly recommended that you seek professional advice from a solicitor who specialises in commercial property law to represent you and guide you through the contracts and handle the administrative side of transferring ownership once you have agreed to sell your commercial property.

Once both the seller and buyer are satisfied with the contract, surveys and inspections and the required funds have been transferred and accepted by the seller – you can consider the property sold.