Here’s a secret: the more someone clings to lease jargon, the less they usually know about what actually matters.

The London office market is full of people throwing around terms like “FRI lease,” “alienation,” and “forfeiture,” like they’re solving some high-stakes legal thriller. In reality? Half the time they’re using them to cover the fact that they haven’t actually read the lease. The other half, they’re hoping you haven’t.

Let’s start with the classics.

FRI lease. Full Repairing and Insuring. Sounds official, right? What it really means is: you’re responsible for everything. Roof leaks? Your problem. Ancient heating system? Yours. You don’t just rent the office, you basically become its guardian, handyman, and insurer-in-chief.

Alienation rights. No, it’s not about aliens. It’s about whether you’re allowed to assign or sublet your space. But try getting a straight answer on what “reasonable” consent looks like. Spoiler alert: landlords love to keep this vague. That way, they hold all the cards when you want out.

Rent review. This one’s a killer. “Upward only” reviews are still lurking in loads of leases. Which means even if the market tanks, your rent can’t go down. But guess what? Half the people signing leases don’t clock this until it’s too late.

Break clauses. The word “break” implies freedom. What they often mean in practice? Jumping through legal hoops with military precision. Miss one notice deadline or forget to repaint the walls and boom you’re stuck for another three years.

And don’t get me started on “yielding up,” “dilapidations,” or “quiet enjoyment.” Quiet enjoyment? In London? During roadworks and fire alarms? Don’t insult us.

The reality is: lease language wasn’t designed to help you. It was designed to protect landlords and make sure their solicitors have job security for life. And too many occupiers are still getting caught out because they think if they don’t understand it, they must be the stupid ones.

You’re not.

The stupid thing is that we’ve accepted this nonsense as normal. That we’ve let a process that’s supposed to help businesses grow turn into a confusing mess of outdated terms and passive-aggressive clauses.

The smartest occupiers I know? They’re the ones who say: “Translate that for me. In plain English.” They want to know what they’re actually agreeing to, not what it sounds like in legalese.

So if you’re about to sign a lease, or renegotiate one, don’t be afraid to push back. Ask the questions that make the other side uncomfortable. Challenge the jargon. Because if someone can’t explain it simply, they probably don’t really understand it either.

And if they’re relying on the language to make the deal sound smarter than it is? That’s your cue to walk.

The clever people aren’t the ones using big words.

They’re the ones who refuse to play the game.