What a Good Letting Board Says About a Street

I look at letting boards rather more closely than most people probably do. Partly habit, partly because they are one of the few public signs of the work going on behind an empty shopfront. A good board is not necessarily large, expensive or particularly handsome. It tells me what is available, who is handling it and how to find out more. Above all, it looks as though someone expects a person standing on that pavement to be interested.

That last point matters. A prospective occupier may already know the street through working there, supplying another business or shopping on a Saturday. They may not be on an agent’s mailing list. A board with a legible number and a working link gives them a way into a conversation which can otherwise feel closed. I do not expect lease particulars on a sheet of plastic. I do expect the invitation to lead somewhere useful.

The board is only the first promise

The test comes when I follow the link. Can I find this particular shop, rather than a general property search? Is there a floor plan? Does the quoted area distinguish the ground-floor sales space from a basement reached by steep stairs? A hundred square feet beside the entrance does a different job from the same space behind a stockroom. An occupier needs to work out where the counter, stock and customers will go before deciding whether a viewing is worthwhile.

Then there is the information which rarely makes the board but ought to sit close behind it. The asking rent, the proposed lease length, any service charge, and whether VAT is payable on the rent all affect the first calculation. The rateable value is useful, but it is not the same as the eventual rates bill. Relief depends on circumstances. A good agent makes these distinctions clear rather than allowing an attractive headline figure to carry more weight than it should.

I also want the particulars to acknowledge the building that actually exists. Is there rear servicing, and does the proposed lease include the right to use it? Is the upper floor part of the letting? What repairing obligation is being offered, and is a schedule of condition open to discussion? These are not subjects to leave until solicitors become involved. A tenant can spend money on plans and advice before discovering that the premises or the proposed terms rule the project out.

Who is being invited in?

After years acting for retail occupiers, I have become wary of descriptions which could fit almost any shop in the country. ‘Suitable for a variety of uses’ tells me little without some understanding of planning, services and the landlord’s restrictions. A good agent can explain why the unit might suit one operation better than another. That need not mean prescribing the street’s future. It means knowing enough about the premises to avoid sending every enquiry down the same unproductive path.

There is a street-level consequence to this care. An established operator usually has someone who knows which questions to ask. A first-time shopkeeper may not. Clear particulars do not remove the need for advice, or make a weak business viable, but they reduce the advantage held by those already familiar with the process. When I teach leases, I often return to the distance between a term that looks ordinary on paper and the practical commitment it creates for the person signing.

I would not read too much into one board. A careful agent cannot manufacture demand, and a faded sign does not prove that a landlord has stopped caring. Nor is a newly erected board necessarily bad news: it may mark the point at which a long-unavailable shop is genuinely being offered. What interests me is whether the sign, the information and the response belong to the same effort. When they do, the street is a little easier to understand for someone considering earning a living there.