Pipettes, permits and power: practical legal tips for life sciences companies on the move

Posted: 06/11/2025

Anyone working in the life sciences sector in the UK will be well aware that finding enough lab space in the right location and for an affordable rent can be quite the challenge. As noted in Bidwells' Life Sciences 2030 research report, nearly a quarter of companies participating in the latest YouGov/Bidwells R&D Business Survey identified a need for more wet lab space over the short to medium term, and 47% of life science companies interviewed planned to extend their facilities over the next five years.

Penningtons Manches Cooper acts on lab premises lettings for a wide variety of life sciences companies, but there are certain issues which crop up time and again that all life science tenants would be well-advised to consider when taking leases of lab space. This article reviews four of these issues below.

Power

Ensuring that the property has sufficient power for the operations which it needs to carry out should be one of the first questions a life sciences tenant asks when viewing a potential lab space, but it will frequently not be raised until much later in the process. This can lead to lettings either being delayed, whilst power upgrade works are carried out, or even to deals terminating because the landlord cannot obtain the power which the tenant needs from the electricity supplier within a reasonable timeframe. 

All life sciences tenants should carry out a scoping exercise, involving a suitable professional if needs be, to calculate the expected power draw of the equipment they plan to use in their premises. If they can start their search for space armed with this knowledge, they will potentially save themselves a lot of wasted time and cost. 

It is also always recommended that the minimum power requirement for the lab is included in both the heads of terms for the letting and the lease itself, with a covenant from the landlord to procure this over the life of the lease.

Hazardous substances

All template leases used by landlords for lab lettings will contain provisions regarding the use and storage of hazardous substances at the premises. More sophisticated landlords of large science parks will usually have a well-developed process for tenants to provide the necessary information about what they are using (chemicals, biological samples, gases etc) and how they are being stored, so that the landlord can ensure they do not breach the terms of their building insurance.

However, in smaller lab lettings, landlords frequently issue leases with a blanket prohibition on the use or storage of any hazardous or flammable materials at the property. This clearly is not feasible for most lab contexts. It is often only when it comes to amending this provision that it is found that the landlord and tenant have not actually had a proper discussion about the tenant's operations, and a significant educational piece is then required to reassure the landlord (and their insurer) that what the tenant will be doing is safe. 

A great deal of time (and cost!) could be saved if life sciences tenants pre-empted this and provided their potential landlord with some brief information about the potentially hazardous elements of their operations and the safety procedures they have in place to mitigate these at the outset of negotiations. Sometimes, a landlord or their building insurer simply does not have the risk appetite for what a tenant needs to do to facilitate their research, and finding this out upfront will save wasted effort and expenditure.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are also draft leases where the template reporting requirements on tenants in relation to hazardous substances are so detailed and onerous that they would either significantly hamper day-to-day operations or would compromise research confidentiality. It is difficult to pre-empt this without seeing the full draft lease, but life sciences tenants could certainly ask landlords for details of their hazardous substances reporting requirements earlier in the process to mitigate this to some degree.

Flues

New flues for fume cupboard extraction will very frequently require planning consent as they require external penetrations to a building (although this will vary from building to building, depending on the planning history and local approvals context). If this is the case, then a legal structure needs to be put in place to reflect the fact that there is a risk that consent may not be granted by the local authority.

An agreement for lease is the most common way of addressing this issue. This is a contract in which the landlord and tenant agree that, following the grant of a suitable planning consent for the external building works, they will enter into a lease in a pre-agreed form which is attached to the agreement. There will be a long stop date following which, if the consent has not been obtained, either party can terminate the agreement and walk away. 

This is a convenient way of addressing the facts that: (i) a tenant will not want to commit to taking a lease until it knows it has the consent required for its flues (as without fume cupboards, most life sciences tenants will not be able to operate); and (ii) whichever party is responsible for the planning application will not want to spend the money required to prepare and submit it until they know that the other party is legally committed to either grant or take the lease.

It is always easier if this structure can be agreed at heads of terms stage, rather than just once solicitors are instructed. An experienced commercial agent who has worked with life sciences tenants before will be well aware of this issue and it is one of the (many!) reasons that tenants are always advised to obtain representation from an agent, rather than negotiating heads of terms for lab premises themselves.

Managing lab design and fit-out 

Putting in place a contract for lab design and fit-out is not a straightforward exercise and it is one of the things which most frequently delays deals. The key to avoiding this is for tenants to engage a project manager experienced in lab fit-outs as early as possible. They will be able to manage the production of design drawings, help select a suitable contractor, lead the negotiation of the building contract with input from lawyers as necessary, liaise with the landlord to obtain approval to the works and keep everything running to programme. 

Whilst their services are not necessarily cheap, lab fit-outs are high value and the cost of losing operational lab time as a result of programme delays can be even higher. Managing a new lab design and construction process entirely in-house can be a significant challenge, even for an experienced COO, and is an area where professional assistance really pays off.

Conclusion

Securing the right lab space is a critical step for life sciences companies looking to grow, but it comes with a unique set of legal and practical challenges. From ensuring adequate power supply and navigating hazardous substance regulations to managing planning risks and coordinating complex fit-outs, early and informed engagement with landlords and professional advisors can save time, money, and frustration. By anticipating these issues and approaching negotiations with clarity and preparation, tenants can set themselves up for smoother transitions and more successful operations.

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