Renting a shop or retail unit takes most tenants <b>6-12 weeks</b> from first search to signed lease - and far longer for F&B, where extraction, ventilation and fit-out are involved (often 3-6 months). Retail has traps that office and warehouse deals do not: the wrong permitted use can block your trade entirely, and a unit with no extraction can make a kitchen impossible. Here is the process end to end, and the retail-specific gotchas to check before you commit.
The process, step by step
- Define catchment and format. Who walks past, and does your trade need a high-street window, a shopping-centre unit or a big-box retail-park box? Fix the town, the pitch and the unit size (m²) before you look.
- Set the real budget. Retail rent is rarely just base rent - add service charge, a marketing/promotion levy and, for F&B, a fit-out of €800-2,000/m². Budget the all-in monthly cost, not the headline €/m²/month.
- Shortlist. Four to eight units that genuinely fit the pitch and catchment beat 30 that half-fit.
- View at trading times. Visit on a busy Saturday and a quiet Monday morning - footfall on a wet weekday tells you more than a broker’s peak-hour figure.
- Negotiate the package. Rent-free, fit-out contribution, turnover-rent %, service-charge caps and break options move more than the headline rent - see negotiating a retail lease.
- Sign. Heads of terms → solicitor review → lease. Confirm the exact permitted use and the handover condition in writing.
The retail gotchas office deals do not have
- Permitted use and change of use. The lease and local planning define what you can legally sell or serve. A unit zoned for retail (shop) use often cannot become a restaurant without a change of use - which can take weeks to months and may be refused. Confirm your exact trade is permitted before signing.
- Extraction and ventilation (F&B). A hot kitchen needs a grease-extraction duct that vents above roof level. If the unit has no existing extraction and the landlord will not allow a new flue, you cannot run a commercial kitchen there - no matter how good the pitch.
- Shopfront and signage rules. Listed buildings, conservation areas and shopping-centre design codes restrict what you can do to the shopfront, fascia and signage. Get your signage rights in writing.
Typical retail deal-to-open timeline
Fitted unit, same use — 4-8 weeks
Retail unit, light fit-out — 8-12 weeks
F&B with new extraction + fit-out — 3-6 months
Change of use required — add 8-16 weeks
The mistakes that cost the most
- Signing before confirming permitted use covers your exact trade.
- Assuming you can add kitchen extraction - check the flue route and landlord consent first.
- Comparing headline rents only, ignoring service charge and marketing levy that can add 20-40% to the monthly cost.
- Taking a 10-year term with no break clause on an unproven pitch.
Renting as a franchisee
If you are opening under a franchise brand, the lease is not just between you and the landlord - the franchisor sits behind it, and that changes what you can safely sign.
- Get the site approved first. Most franchisors must approve the unit before you commit, and they will judge it on catchment, footfall and how close it sits to other stores in the network.
- Check what your territorial exclusivity actually covers. Confirm in writing whether it protects a radius, a postcode or a named catchment - and whether it stops the franchisor opening its own store there, or only another franchisee.
- Match the lease term to the franchise term. A 10-year lease behind a 5-year franchise agreement can leave you holding a shop with no brand. Align the two, or place a break clause where the franchise agreement ends.
- Assignment needs two consents. Selling the business later usually requires both the landlord and the franchisor to approve the buyer. Read both clauses before you sign, not when you want to exit.
- Expect a personal guarantee. Franchisees are often new companies with no trading history, so landlords ask the director to stand behind the lease. Cap it - for example at 6-12 months’ rent - rather than leaving it open-ended.
Not sure where to start? Tell us what you need and we match you with retail units that fit your trade, catchment and budget.
