Business Tenancy Act 1954
When a lease of a business premises comes to an end it could cause difficulties if the business is forced to move. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 protects the business by giving the tenant a right to apply to the court for a new lease. In such cases the landlord must comply with Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 to bring the lease to an end.
A landlord can bring the tenancy to an end by giving the tenant what is known as a s25 notice setting out the date that the tenancy will be ended. The landlord has to make clear in the s25 notice whether or not he/she will oppose any application by the tenant for a new lease and set out the terms that he proposes for the grant of the new lease (that are usually on the same terms as the old lease).
Alternatively, if the landlord opposes the grant of the new lease he/she must set out clearly the date when the tenancy will end and the grounds for the opposition of the new tenancy.
The s25 notice must be in a certain format and must be served on the correct party. It is for this reason that it is important to check that the identity of the party paying the rent accords with the information on the lease.
The s25 notice must be served not more than 12 months nor less than 6 months before the termination date specified in the notice. A s25 notice may terminate the lease on or after the contractual expiry date, but no earlier. It is important to calculate this period correctly so that the notice is not invalid. It is sometimes prudent to serve a s40 notice at the same time as the s25 notice to request information about occupation and sub-tenancies.
It is important that the notice is properly served in accordance with the provisions of the lease and s66 (4) of the Landlord& Tenant Act 1954 and that the tenant’s address is correct. If the tenant is a company the details of its registered office should be obtained from Companies House.
The preparation and service of the s25 notice has to be precise and if not prepared properly will be invalid and fail to bring the lease to an end. It is important to get this right as the failure to do so may result in the tenant being able to hold over after the lease has expired.
Until such time as a s25 notice has been properly served the landlord is not entitled to apply to the court for interim rent and the tenant may possibly be able to benefit by being able to continue to occupy paying a rent lower than the current market rent.
Quinn & Co have expertise in this area of law. Should you need to discuss any Landlord & Tenant matter please contact Joseph Quinn on 01392 248858 or email us at mail@quinnlaw.co.uk or fill in our contact form and we will call you as soon as possible.
This article is provided free of charge for information purposes only; it does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such.