This study is about the complexity of lease agreements, it seeks to establishwhy lease negotiations have become have become complex leading to slowerturnaround time of finalizing the lease agreement. A survey approach wasadopted and data was collected through questionnaires and interviews fromlandlords, managing agents of listed property funds and national tenants inthe commercial retail property industry in Gauteng. The findings indicate thatthe turn-around time of finalising lease agreements is affected by complicatednegotiations that are a result of both parties to a negotiation having a standardlease agreement, lease agreements that come in a large variety, leaseclauses that cannot be reduced to a monetary value and factors affecting theproperty market.I therefore recommended that to improve the turn-around time of leasenegotiations by setting aside our standard lease documents and negotiating anew lease, negotiating upfront all terms and conditions to be included in thelease, understanding the market conditions prevailing at the time ofnegotiation is pertinent and pricing lease clauses should become an industrynorm. It was further identified that research should be conducted on the useof lease agreements, pricing of lease clauses and identifying when standardlease agreements are use full, which were outside the scope of this study butare essential to fully understanding the complexity of lease negotiations incommercial properties
