Two shops and six flats
Landlords with a mixed portfolio
One or two shops next to your residential units, currently forced through the same template as everything else.
Notes for Zambian landlords
No. 09 · Shops, offices and commercial units
Updated September 2026
No. 09 · Commercial lettings
Manage shops, offices and commercial units
Letting a shop, an office or a warehouse is a different job from letting a house. Yet landlords with a mixed portfolio often use one residential lease for everything, crossing out clauses that do not apply and hoping nothing important was missed: VAT, a service charge, a yearly rent increase, a fit out period.
In short
- A commercial lease template, not a house lease edited down
- VAT flagged on commercial units where it applies
- The same rent checking as any residential unit
- Rent reviews and renewals that surface on their own
02 · Side by side
The same shop, two ways
With a house lease
- Pets and visitors clauses crossed out by hand
- No line for VAT or a service charge
- The yearly increase agreed on a handshake
- Council rates tracked in a notebook
In Tezeka
- A commercial template with its own clauses
- VAT and the service charge set out in the lease
- The rent review date surfaces on its own
- Rates and ground rent logged against the property
Commercial tenancies carry terms a house lease never touches
A shop or office lease usually has to deal with things a house lease never mentions: whether the tenant is registered for VAT, who pays the service charge, whether rent rises on a schedule, and how long a new tenant gets to fit out before rent starts. Missing one is not a paperwork detail. It is the difference between a lease that protects you and one written for a different kind of let.
Running a shop or two next to residential units also brings council rates, ground rent and other costs that belong to the property, not to a repair, but still need tracking against the right place.
04 · How it works
Letting Shop 2 on Cairo Road
Commercial units run through the same system as your flats, with the parts that differ built in.
- 1 Mar
Draft from the commercial template, with service charge, rent review and fit out clauses.
- 3 Mar
The tenant signs on a phone: Mwila Hardware Ltd, VAT registered.
- 1 May
The first rent falls due after two months of fit out, rent free.
- Every month
Rent is checked like any other unit, by MoMo, Airtel Money, bank or cash.
- 1 Feb, next year
The rent review surfaces a month before the 10% increase is due.
05 · Who this is for
Three landlords we had in mind
A warehouse in the industrial area
Owners of commercial buildings
A warehouse, an office block or a row of shops where every tenancy is commercial and the terms need to say so.
An agent letting offices
Agents handling commercial lets
You need VAT and service charge details handled properly without drafting each lease from a blank page.
06 · What changes
What you stop doing by hand
- i
Crossing out house clauses for a shop
- ii
Finding VAT after you have filed
- iii
Missing a rent review date
- iv
Losing track of rates and ground rent
No. 0001
- Date
- Today
- Received from
- You
- For
- 1 unit
- Amount
- K99 a month
Counterfoil. Keep for your records
Start here
Start with the property you have
Solo is K99 a month for 1 unit. Your tenants keep paying you directly by MoMo, Airtel Money or bank transfer. Tezeka never touches your rent.
Does Tezeka register or file VAT for me?
No. Commercial units are flagged when their income may need VAT attention on your report. Registering and filing stays with you or your accountant.
Which lease clauses differ for commercial tenancies?
Usually the service charge, a rent increase schedule, a fit out period and VAT treatment. The commercial template includes these instead of leaving you to add them by hand.
Can I mix residential and commercial units on one plan?
Yes. A unit is a unit whatever it is used for. Pricing is per unit, not split by property type.
Does Tezeka track council rates or ground rent?
You can log them as recurring costs against a property, the same way repair costs are logged, so they show up when you work out what a unit really earns.
Is rent checking different for a commercial tenant?
No. The same MoMo, Airtel Money, bank or cash checking applies, whether the tenant is a shop, an office or a household.