Meaning & use
pre-lease
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To arrange for a property to be rented before it is finished or officially available.
Grammar: Takes an object: pre-lease the building. Often used in the passive: the offices were pre-leased.
Patterns
- pre-lease something
- pre-lease something to someone
- be pre-leased
The developer managed to pre-lease half of the new office tower before construction ended.
They pre-leased the retail space to a national coffee chain.
The apartments were pre-leased to students for the coming academic year.
nouncountable
An agreement to rent a property that is made before the property is ready or open.
Grammar: Countable: a pre-lease, two pre-leases. Often used in the phrase 'sign a pre-lease'.
Patterns
- sign a pre-lease
- a pre-lease agreement
- pre-lease for something
The tenant signed a pre-lease for the apartment while the building was still being painted.
A pre-lease can help the landlord secure income before the property is completed.
They negotiated a pre-lease with a major supermarket chain.
Word forms
| third person singular | pre-leases |
|---|---|
| past tense | pre-leased |
| past participle | pre-leased |
| -ing form | pre-leasing |
| plural | pre-leases |
Common combinations
- pre-lease an office
- The company decided to pre-lease an office in the new development.
- pre-lease a property
- Investors often pre-lease a property to reduce risk.
- pre-lease agreement
- The pre-lease agreement was signed months before the opening.
- pre-lease to a tenant
- They pre-leased the space to a tenant who wanted a long-term deal.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pre-let
- Chiefly British; means the same but is more common in UK property writing.
- reserve
- Used when you arrange to have something kept for you, but it does not always involve a rental contract.
Word family
- pre-leasing noun
- The activity of arranging rentals before a property is ready.
- pre-leased adjective
- Describing a property that has already been rented before completion.
Commonly confused: pre-lease or pre-let? pre-lease or sublease?
pre-lease vs pre-let
British English term for the same idea; use pre-let in UK contexts and pre-lease in US contexts.
pre-lease vs sublease
Means to rent a property from someone who is already renting it, not to rent before it is ready.
Practice
The company decided to ______ the new office space before the building was finished.
Choose one answer.
After 'to', the base form of the verb is needed, so 'pre-lease' is correct. 'Pre-leases' is third person singular and does not fit after 'to'; 'pre-leasing' would need a helper verb like 'is'; 'pre-leased' is past tense and cannot follow 'to' here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pre-lease”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.