Commercial real estate: Country Q&A tool

Resource type: Article

Status: Published on 31-Oct-2012

Jurisdictions: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Russian Federation, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom

This tool enables subscribers to search the Country Q&A in the PLC Corporate Real Estate multi-jurisdictional guide by question and jurisdiction. Simply select the questions and the jurisdictions that you are interested in and click the "submit" button.

Please note that the law stated dates for each jurisdiction covered may not be the same. To check the law stated dates for each jurisdiction, please visit the individual article.

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The corporate real estate market

1. What have been the main trends in the real estate market in your jurisdiction over the last 12 months? What have been the most significant deals?
 
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Real estate investment

2. How is real estate investment carried out in your jurisdiction and what structures do investors use?
 
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Real estate legislation

3. What is the main real estate legislation that applies in your jurisdiction?
 
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Title to real estate

Title and registers

4. What constitutes real estate in your jurisdiction? Is land and any buildings on it (owned by the same entity) registered together in the same title, or do they have separate titles set out in different registers?

Evidencing title

5. How is title to real estate evidenced?

Information in the public register

6. What are the main information and documents registered in the public register of title?

Protection from disclosure

7. Can confidential information or documents be protected from disclosure in the public register of title?

State guarantee of title

8. Is there a state guarantee of title? Is title insurance available? If so, is it commonly used?

Tenure

9. How can real estate be held (that is, what types of tenure exist)?
 
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Sale of real estate

Main stages and documents

10. What are the main stages and documents in the sale of real estate?

Sellers liability to the buyer

11. Does a seller have any statutory or other liability to the buyer in a disposal of real estate?

Due diligence

12. What real estate due diligence is typically carried out before an acquisition?

Seller's warranties

13. What real estate warranties are typically given by a seller to a buyer in the sale of corporate real estate and what areas do they cover?

Inheriting liability

14. Can an owner or occupier inherit liability for matters relating to the real estate even if they occurred before it bought or occupied it?

Retention of liability after disposal

15. Does a seller or occupier retain any liabilities relating to the real estate after it has disposed of it?

Seller and buyer costs

16. What costs are usually paid by the buyer? What costs are usually paid by the seller?
 
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Real estate taxes and mitigation

17. Is value added tax (VAT) (or equivalent) payable on the sale or purchase of real estate?
 
18. Is stamp duty/transfer tax (or equivalent) payable on the sale or purchase and who pays?
 
19. Are any methods commonly used to mitigate real estate tax liability on acquisitions of large real estate portfolios?
 
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Holding business premises

Climate change targets

20. Are there targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings in your jurisdiction? Is there legislation requiring buildings to meet certain minimum energy efficiency criteria?

Third party outsourcing

21. Is it common for companies to manage their real estate portfolios and their accommodation needs by using third parties through outsourcing transactions?

Restrictions on foreign ownership or occupation

22. Are there restrictions on foreign ownership or occupation of real estate, or on foreign guarantees or security for ownership or occupation?

Issues on change of control

23. Does change of control of a company affect its holdings of real estate?

Compulsory purchase

24. In what circumstances can local or state authorities purchase business premises compulsorily? Is the purchase price market value?

Municpal taxes

25. Are municipal taxes paid on the occupation of business premises, for example business rates? Are there any exemptions?
 
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Real estate finance

26. How are acquisitions of large real estate portfolios or companies holding real estate generally financed?
 
27. How is real estate commonly used to raise finance?
 
28. What are the most common forms of security granted over real estate to raise finance? How are they created and perfected (that is, made valid and enforceable)?
 
29. Is real estate securitisation common in your jurisdiction?
 
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Real estate leases

Negotiation and execution of leases

30. Are contractual lease provisions regulated or freely negotiable?
 
31. What are the formal requirements to execute a lease?

Rent levels and reviews

32. How are rent levels usually reviewed and are there restrictions on this? Is VAT (or equivalent) payable on rent?

Length of term and security of occupation

33. Is there a typical length of lease term and are there restrictions on it? Do tenants of business premises have security of occupation or rights to renew the lease at the end of the contractual lease term?

Restrictions on disposal

34. What restrictions typically apply to the disposal of the lease by the tenant?

Use of premises within a corporate group

35. Can tenants usually share their business premises with companies in the same corporate group? If yes, on what terms?

Repair and insurance responsibilities

36. Who is usually responsible for keeping the leased premises in good repair?
 
37. Who is usually responsible for insuring the leased premises?

Grounds for termination

38. On what grounds can the landlord usually terminate the lease? Can the tenant terminate the lease in certain circumstances?

Tenant's insolvency

39. What is the effect of the tenant's insolvency (under general contract terms and insolvency legislation)?
 
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Planning law

40. What authorities regulate planning control and which legislation applies?
 
41. What planning consents (for example, planning permission or building permits) are required and for which types of development?
 
42. What are the main authorisation and consultation procedures in relation to planning consents?
 

Reform

43. Are there any proposals to reform real estate law in your jurisdiction?
 
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  • Resource ID: 3-503-5578
  • Published: 31-Oct-2012
  • Products:  Corporate Real Estate multi-jurisdictional guide, PLC China, PLC Cross-border, PLC UK Corporate, PLC UK Finance, PLC UK Law Department, PLC UK Private Client, PLC UK Property, PLC UK Public Sector, PLC US Law Department, PLC US Real Estate
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