TENANCIES PROTECTED BY PART II OF THE LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT
Part II normally applies to any tenant or sub-tenant occupying business premises, a tenant will not be covered if he has sub-let the whole of the business premises and does not occupy them himself. Either an individual or a company, can become a tenant personal occupation is not essential, an agent or manager will be sufficient. Business in the Act includes any trade, profession or employment and also any activity carried on by a body of persons. The Act therefore covers shops, warehouses and factories; the offices of commercial firms, professional men, and voluntary societies; premises where doctors and dentists practice; and the premises of clubs, institutions, trade unions, or any other body of persons which hold a tenancy and uses the premises for its activities. Even premises used only partly for business and partly for something else, for example, residential purposes fall within the Act unless they are let on tenancies excluded from protection under the Act
If the tenancy agreement is not in the tenant's name but the tenant trades from the premises as a company, it can make a difference in these circumstances the tenant could lose his right to renew his tenancy.
IF IN DOUBT CONSULT A SOLICITOR.
The Court may allow an agreement to contract out of the Act the landlord and tenant need to obtain Court approval for a tenancy to be surrendered on a certain date or in certain circumstances or for a fixed term tenancy not be subject to the Act. Without court approval the security of tenure conferred by the Act still applies, an agreement by the tenant not to claim compensation is only valid in limited circumstances.
TAKE LEGAL ADVICE.
RENT
The lease can be an oral agreement a business tenancy should however be a written agreement, the prospective landlord and tenant can then negotiate the terms of the lease changing any of the terms which they consider unfair or unreasonable. Important issues such as the responsibility for carrying out repairs to the business premises will depend upon the agreement . The terms of the tenancy can be discussed and amended, the court will decide should there be a dispute over the renewal of a tenancy or, over the tenancy agreement .If both parties agree to submit to arbitration, most disputes between landlords and tenants can be settled by arbitration without going to court, some rent review clauses include reference to an arbitrator.
It is important to remember that Part II of the Landlord and Tenants Act does not give the tenant the right to buy the property. . The landlord and tenant are free to agree whether the tenancy will be for a fixed term, such as one year or any number of years, or whether it will be a periodic tenancy such as weekly or monthly, normally this will be stated in the tenancy agreement. Sometimes the landlord and tenant agree a clause which would shorten the term originally agreed, the tenant will not, however, have to leave simply because the expiry date of the tenancy agreement has been reached .
Solicitors, Surveyors, and Citizens Advice Bureau's can give advice on the terms of the tenancy agreement.
The relevant legislation for fair rents to be assessed by Rent Officers or Rent Assessment Committees does not apply to business premises, to which the Act applies.
The rent which was agreed between the landlord and tenant will normally appear in the beginning of the tenancy, the agreement should also provide for a rent increase, or reviews during the course of the tenancy. If it does not, the rent agreed upon at the beginning of the tenancy will normally apply for the full length of the tenancy.
SECURITY OF TENURE
The aim of the 1954 Act is to provide protection for business tenants by preventing the landlord from terminating the tenancy. During the term of the tenancy the tenant has complete security of tenure unless he fails to pay the rent or breaks some other term or condition of his tenancy agreement or if the agreement specifically provides for an early ending.
In normal circumstances the tenant may not end his tenancy before the agreed expiry date unless the tenant has been in occupation for at least a month, notice to quit can then be given in accordance with the terms of his tenancy [ L.T.A.1954 s.24 (2) ] If there is no special provision in the agreement, the notice must bring the tenancy to an end at the end of a complete period of the tenancy ( for example, at the end of a month, if the tenancy is by the month ) .
Unless the landlord or the tenant has taken the necessary steps to end the tenancy under the Act the tenant is entitled to remain without doing anything, even if the date on which the tenancy was due to end has passed.
When such steps have been taken by the landlord under the Act, and the tenant wants to stay in the premises after the expiry date of the current tenancy and the landlord and tenant have not agreed on a new tenancy , the landlord may apply to the court after giving notice under the Act to the tenant to terminate the lease, or after receiving a request for a new tenancy.
The court will adjudicate on any disputes and may fix an interim rent taking into account the current rent, this interim rent is therefore likely to be lower than the rent under the new tenancy if one is subsequently granted. If the court does fix a higher rent, it will be payable from the date of the landlord's application to the court, or the date specified in the notice or the request, whichever is the later.
FIXED TERM
If the tenancy is for a fixed term e.g. a seven-year lease, the tenant can terminate by giving notice in writing to expire on the date when the tenancy was originally due to end - at least three months before that date. Tenancies continuing before that expiry date also require at least three months notice in writing, but notice must expire on a quarter day i.e. 25th March, 24th June, 29th September or 25th December in any year.
No special form is needed.
The Act does not affect the tenant's right to give up his tenancy by agreement with the landlord provided that the agreement is made after the tenant has been in occupation for a month.
The protection of the Act applies to all the premises comprised in the tenancy while the tenancy continues even if the tenant occupies only part of them for his business. If the tenant applies to the court for a new tenancy, this tenancy will usually be restricted to the part of the premises which the tenant or his employee occupies.
There are only two ways the landlord can terminate the current tenancy ( unless the tenant fails to pay the
rent or breaks some other condition of his tenancy agreement or gives up the tenancy ) in which the landlord can
end the current tenancy:
Either
( i )
He can agree with the tenant that the tenant is to
have a new tenancy; and they then agree the date when the new tenancy begins
and the current tenancy will end on that date.
( ii )
He can give notice to the tenant on a special form.
When the landlord is also a tenant, notice in certain cases is not allowed to be given legal advice should be taken
to find out if it is allowed under the Act.
The landlord normally, gives notice to terminate to the tenant at least six months but not more than 12 months before the date on which he wants the tenancy to end - as specified in the notice on the special form. The tenant therefore always receives at least six months notice. the landlord cannot give shorter notice than the tenancy itself calls for.
If the tenancy can be terminated by notice to quit, the landlord cannot give notice using the special form to end
it earlier than he is entitled to end it under the terms of the tenancy, nor give shorter notice than the tenancy
calls for.
In the case of any other tenancy not capable of being terminated by notice to the landlord cannot end the tenancy
by notice using the special form before the date on which it was originally due to end.
SEEK INFORMATION
The Landlord can seek information from a tenant
about his tenancy and sub-tenancies, by serving a notice using the appropriate special form requiring the tenant
to give that information Service of the notice is not effective when served earlier than two years before the tenancy
would expire, or be brought to an end by a notice to quit from the landlord, apart from the Act.
The necessary forms for serving notices under the Act are laid down by the law in Regulations called The Landlord
and Tenant Act 1954, Part II
(Notices) Regulations 1983 as amended by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 Part II
Notices) (Amendment) Regulations 1989. The terms may be bought from law stationers.
Can a tenant seek information about his landlord?
Yes when a tenant needs to know to whom he should address a request for a new tenancy. He can serve a notice on
the appropriate special form
THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCLUDED FROM THE ACT
(a)
the tenant of an agricultural holding under a farm
business tenancy;
(b)
the tenant under a mining lease;
(c)
certain service tenants who were granted their tenancies
only because they were employed by the landlord;
(d)
a tenant whose tenancy is for ii fixed term of six
months or less, with no right to extend or renew the tenancy;
i
The tenant with a tenancy of this type is protected
if he has been in occupation for more than twelve months.
(For this purpose, occupation by a predecessor in the
same business is to be taken into account.)
ii
A tenant with any kind of periodic tenancy, such as
a monthly or weekly tenancy, is protected (unless excluded by one of the other exceptions).
(e)
certain tenants who without the landlord's consent
are using the premises for business purposes although prohibited from doing so by
the terms of the tenancy;
This exception applies only where there is a general
prohibition, for example against the firm of trade. It does not apply where the tenancy allows some trades but
not others.
(f)
tenants holding long leases at low rents which have
been extended under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, and, in certain cases,
sub-tenants of such tenants;
a tenant whose tenancy was granted on the specific
understanding that the protection of the Act would not apply; provided that this
(g)
arrangement was sanctioned in advance by the court.
Licences are not covered by Part II of the Act, but it is recommended that legal advice be taken if in doubt about
whether the Act applies.
