COMMERCIAL PROPERTY LEASES

For agreements or leases completed after 1 June 2004 there have been procedural changes disposing with the requirement to have to obtain a Court Order for the grant of a lease outside the protection of Part II of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954.

In many buildings where there are multiple lettings, landlords are unwilling, for the overall management of the building, to grant leases that have the protection of Part II of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954. This is because the landlords want the terms of the leases to be for a certain period of time so that they know when they will come to an end. Tenants are therefore required to give up their automatic right to be granted a new lease on the expiration of their old lease.

Before the procedural changes, it was necessary to obtain a Court Order whereby both landlord and tenant gave their consent to the Court for the lease to be outside the protection of Part II of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954.

To avoid the delays and costs involved in obtaining such a Court Order, it is now possible for leases to be granted without the protection of the Landlord & Tenant Act by the landlord giving to the tenant a prescribed form of notice by way of a warning that the tenant is giving up its right to the automatic renewal of its lease.

Declarations can be sworn by or on behalf of the tenant if the lease needs to be completed before the expiration of the notice period.

For further information, please contact David Ashton.