Can my landlord make my buyer lease additional space as a condition of approving the assignment?
Generally, this goes beyond what a landlord's consent power is meant to cover, though whether it's actually enforceable depends on your lease's specific wording. Consent to assignment is usually understood as the landlord assessing whether the proposed tenant is suitable to take over the existing premises — not as a lever to require the buyer to take on space they never agreed to lease. A landlord who conditions approval on the buyer also leasing additional space is asking for something outside the scope of what the assignment itself involves.
Where a lease includes a broad, unrestricted discretion clause for the landlord, this kind of demand may be harder to challenge; where it includes a "not unreasonably withheld" standard tied to the assignee's suitability, tying consent to an unrelated leasing commitment looks like exactly the kind of improper condition that standard is meant to guard against.
Your buyer isn't obligated to agree to lease space they don't want just to get the assignment approved — though they may choose to, if it makes commercial sense. A Treadstone business lawyer can assess whether this demand is enforceable or just an opening offer.
Key takeaways
- Consent to assignment is generally meant to assess the buyer's suitability, not extract new commitments.
- Requiring the buyer to lease additional space is often outside the proper scope of a consent condition.
- A "not unreasonably withheld" standard makes this kind of demand harder for a landlord to justify.
- Your buyer isn't obligated to accept unrelated leasing commitments just to get consent approved.