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ARTICLE · 09 OCTOBER 2026

Lease Or Licence To Occupy? Why Getting It Wrong Can Cost Your Business

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United KingdomPrivacy
Jasmine Munro
Jasmine Munro

If you or your business is occupying or planning to occupy space in a commercial premises, it’s important to understand whether the arrangement is, or will be, a lease or a licence to occupy.

While the two may look similar in practice, they create different legal rights, obligations and risks. Indeed, the name given to the document is not decisive and may sometimes be misleading. Just calling an agreement a “Licence to Occupy” does not mean that legally it is not in fact a lease, and vice versa.

What matters is what the agreement actually allows the occupier to do, particularly whether they have exclusive possession of defined premises or only permission to use space on more flexible terms.

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