My mum and my step dad run and own a Sandwich shop down in Brighton. They took this shop on December and have managed to make a small profit in their first year [just under £2.5k, not great, but not bad]
I'm a bit concerned because they took on the premises [the shop and the flat] without doing a proper survey, and there are loads of issues with the flat and it turns out they are also on a full repair lease.
So far, the spare room roof has collapsed because of the damp. The boiler doesn't work, so they don't get hot water or heating. All the electrics blew a few months back.
The lease is only for 3 years as well.
My limited understanding of different types of business leases suggests that they are liable for ALL costs of repairs, PLUS they are obliged to return the premises back to a suitable standard of living before they can properly vacate [if they sell up], even though the issues of Damp etc have been ignored by the previous proprietors etc etc.
Do they have any rights here or not? Or are they stuck with a below standard premises whilst the landlords continues to suck all their profits away?
Any help would be appreciated.