When a commercial lease nears the end of its term, the law does not simply let it expire. Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 gives most business tenants the right to stay and ask for a new lease — and lays down a strict timetable of notices that both sides must follow. As a solicitor, you will act for landlords trying to recover premises and for tenants trying to secure their place of business, and a single missed deadline can decide the outcome. Getting the notices and timing right is core day-to-day commercial property work.
This lesson takes you through the process in the order it unfolds:
- Security of Tenure and Excluded Tenancies — who is protected, how a tenancy continues after its term, and which tenancies fall outside the regime.
- Contracting Out — how landlord and tenant can lawfully exclude security of tenure using the prescribed procedure.
- The Competent Landlord and Initiating Notices — identifying who can grant a renewal and the two notices that start the process.
- Timing and Court Applications — the windows for valid notices and the deadlines for applying to court.
- Opposing Renewal — how a landlord resists a new tenancy and on what grounds.
- Terms of the Renewal Lease and Interim Rent — what the court can order and the rent payable in the meantime.
- Compensation and Termination — when a tenant is compensated and how a tenancy is brought to an end.