Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 · Part II
Understand your rights. Check your dates. Analyse your documents.
Business lease renewal under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 — notices, deadlines, grounds of opposition, rent and compensation — for tenants, landlords and their advisers.
Built around Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 for England and Wales. General information — not legal advice.
The 1954 Act is under review
The Law Commission published its second consultation paper on 16 June 2026. The consultation closes on 16 September 2026. These are proposals — consultation, not law.
Explore the proposed reforms- 17
- Part II provisions, summarised
- 15
- Plain-English guides
- 20+
- Leading authorities
- 4
- Free renewal tools
Start with a tool
Four things you can do in a couple of minutes — each one grounded in the provision it applies.
Ask the AI assistant
Describe your renewal in your own words. Every answer cites the section of the Act it relies on, so you can check it.
Open the assistantSection 25 analyser
Paste or upload a landlord's notice and get a plain-English summary plus a date check.
Check a noticeLease analyser
Upload a lease and get a synopsis with the renewal risk points flagged.
Upload a leaseNotice deadline calculator
Work out the section 25 and 26 cut-off dates from your term end date.
Work out datesRead the guides
Plain-English explanations of the provisions that decide a renewal, each linked back to the section it comes from.
Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 explained
Plain-English guide to Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954: who is protected, how a business tenancy is renewed or ended, and the key deadlines.
Read guideSecurity of tenure for business tenants
What security of tenure means under the 1954 Act: which tenancies qualify under section 23, how the continuation tenancy works, and how protection is lost.
Read guideSection 25 notice explained
What a section 25 notice does, the prescribed forms, the 6–12 month window, how to check validity and what a tenant must do to keep the right to a new lease.
Read guideSection 26 request explained
How a tenant uses a section 26 request to start lease renewal: the 6–12 month window, the landlord's two-month counter-notice, and when to serve first.
Read guideCommercial lease renewal under the 1954 Act
A step-by-step timeline of business lease renewal under the 1954 Act: notices, negotiation, court applications, interim rent and the new lease.
Read guideGrounds for opposing a lease renewal
The seven section 30(1)(a)–(g) grounds a landlord can use to oppose a new business tenancy: what each requires and which trigger compensation.
Read guideContracting out of the 1954 Act
The section 38A procedure for excluding security of tenure: the warning notice, simple or statutory declaration, the 14-day rule and common mistakes.
Read guideHow the rent is decided on lease renewal
How section 34 fixes the rent on a renewed business tenancy: the open-market test, the four statutory disregards and tenant's improvements.
Read guideInterim rent explained
Who can apply for interim rent, from what date it runs, how it is calculated under sections 24C and 24D, and when applying helps a landlord or a tenant.
Read guideCompensation when a business tenancy ends
When a business tenant gets compensation under section 37 of the 1954 Act, how the one-times and two-times rateable value multipliers work, and exclusions.
Read guideWhat happens when a commercial lease expires?
What happens at the end of a protected business lease: how section 24 continues the tenancy, the rent payable while holding over, and contracted-out leases.
Read guideWho is the competent landlord?
How to identify the competent landlord for a 1954 Act renewal with intermediate leases, why it matters for sections 25 and 26, and section 40 notices.
Read guide1954 Act notice deadlines
Every deadline on a business lease renewal: the 6–12 month notice window, the two-month counter-notice, the court cut-off and the section 64 three-month tail.
Read guideApplying to court for a new tenancy
How and when to issue a 1954 Act renewal claim: who can apply, unopposed and opposed claims, which court to use, and what section 64 means for the old tenancy.
Read guideTerms of the new lease
How the court fixes renewal lease terms under sections 32 to 35: the holding, the length of term, and the O'May principle on carrying over existing terms.
Read guide17 provisions
The landlord may oppose renewal only on the statutory grounds: (a) disrepair through tenant breach, (b) persistent late rent, (c) other substantial breaches, (d) suitable alternative accommodation offered, (e) uneconomic sub-letting, (f) intention to demolish or substantially reconstruct, (g) intention to occupy for own business or residence.
For the tenant
Grounds (e), (f) and (g) are 'no-fault' and trigger compensation under s.37.
For the landlord
Grounds (f) and (g) need firm, provable intention plus practical ability to carry it out.
Key case law
Barclays Bank plc v Bee [2001] EWCA Civ 1126
Court of Appeal · 2001
Issue: What happens when a landlord serves two contradictory s.25 notices?
Held: A notice that fails to state clearly whether the landlord opposes renewal, and on which grounds, is invalid; contradictory notices do not cure each other.
Check the served notice states opposition (or not) unambiguously and names the exact s.30 grounds — an unclear notice can be challenged.
Ask how this applies to meS Franses Ltd v Cavendish Hotel (London) Ltd [2018] UKSC 62
Supreme Court · 2018
Issue: Can a landlord rely on ground (f) where the works exist only to get the tenant out?
Held: No. The intention to redevelop must be unconditional — works designed solely to defeat the renewal claim, which the landlord would not do if the tenant left voluntarily, fail the test.
Tenants: probe whether the scheme would still be built if you walked away. Landlords: be ready to show the works are wanted for their own sake.
Ask how this applies to meBetty's Cafés Ltd v Phillips Furnishing Stores Ltd [1959] AC 20
House of Lords · 1959
Issue: At what date must the landlord prove intention to demolish or reconstruct?
Held: Intention is judged at the date of the court hearing, not when the s.25 notice was served.
A landlord can firm up a scheme after serving notice; a tenant should test the evidence as it stands at trial.
Ask how this applies to meGregson v Cyril Lord Ltd [1963] 1 WLR 41
Court of Appeal · 1963
Issue: How much weight does persistent late payment of rent carry under ground (b)?
Held: The court looks at the whole history and the likelihood of future default; occasional lateness that has been cured is unlikely to defeat renewal.
Tenants with arrears should clear them and show a reliable recent record before the hearing.
Ask how this applies to meRomulus Trading Co Ltd v Trustees of Henry Smith's Charity [1990] 2 EGLR 75
Court of Appeal · 1990
Issue: What counts as intention to occupy for the landlord's own business under ground (g)?
Held: The landlord must show a genuine, settled and realistic intention to occupy, supported by practical steps and the means to carry it out.
Board resolutions, funding and planning evidence matter; a bare assertion of intention will not do.
Ask how this applies to meHumber Oil Terminals Trustee Ltd v Associated British Ports [2012] EWCA Civ 596
Court of Appeal · 2012
Issue: Can a landlord oppose under ground (g) where it needs the tenant's plant to trade?
Held: Yes — the landlord's intention to occupy and run a business there can be genuine even if it will acquire or use assets currently the tenant's.
Ground (g) is not defeated merely because the landlord's plans depend on assets it does not yet own.
Ask how this applies to mePatel v Keles [2009] EWCA Civ 1187
Court of Appeal · 2009
Issue: Must the landlord intend to occupy for a meaningful period under ground (g)?
Held: Yes. An intention to occupy only briefly before selling with vacant possession is not a genuine intention to occupy for the purposes of a business.
Tenants should probe the landlord's exit plans; a quick sale after possession undermines ground (g) and may support compensation.
Ask how this applies to meCricket Ltd v Shaftesbury plc [1999] 3 All ER 283
High Court · 1999
Issue: Does occupation through a management arrangement count as the tenant's own occupation?
Held: It can. Occupation by a manager or agent on the tenant's behalf, under the tenant's control, is occupation by the tenant.
If a concession, franchisee or manager runs the site, document who controls trading — control usually decides who occupies.
Ask how this applies to meSpirit Pub Company (Managed) Ltd v Pridewell Properties (London) Ltd County Court at Mayor's and City of London, 14 March 2025 (unreported)
County Court · 2025
Issue: Does ground (f) succeed where a landlord's redevelopment plan is genuine but its funding is unproven — and does accelerating the works to defeat the renewal offend Franses?
Held: The ground failed. Although the intention was genuine, firm and settled, the landlord could not show a real prospect of financing the development. Accelerating the works to meet ground (f) was not fatal, and 14 months was a reasonable time to commence on the facts.
Tenants: attack the money behind the scheme, not just its motives. Landlords: have funding evidence ready to prove. County Court, so persuasive rather than binding.
Ask how this applies to me
Lease renewal questions, answered
What does the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 do?
Part II gives most business tenants in England and Wales security of tenure. The tenancy does not end on its contractual expiry date: it continues under section 24 until it is ended by one of the statutory routes, and the tenant is entitled to a new lease unless the landlord proves a ground of opposition under section 30.
How much notice does a section 25 notice need to give?
Between six and twelve months. The date specified in the notice cannot be earlier than the date the tenancy could have been ended at common law, and the notice must state whether the landlord opposes a new tenancy and, if so, on which section 30 grounds.
What is the difference between a section 25 notice and a section 26 request?
A section 25 notice is served by the landlord to end the current tenancy, either offering or opposing a renewal. A section 26 request is made by the tenant to request a new tenancy on proposed terms. Either route starts the statutory timetable, and only one of them can be running at a time.
What happens if the deadline to apply to court is missed?
Security of tenure is lost. Unless the parties have agreed a written extension under section 29B before the deadline, a tenant who does not apply to court in time loses the right to a new tenancy and the tenancy ends on the date specified in the notice or request.
Can a business tenancy be taken outside the Act?
Yes. The parties can contract out under section 38A, but only if the statutory health warning is given to the tenant before the tenancy is entered into and the tenant makes the required declaration or statutory declaration. Get the procedure wrong and the tenancy remains protected.
Is the guidance on this site legal advice?
No. It is general information on the law of England and Wales, published by mcgarrigle & co. Renewal outcomes turn on the wording of your lease and the dates in your notices, so take advice on your own facts before acting.
Talk it through with a commercial property surveyor
Speak to a commercial property surveyor
Leave your details and a commercial property surveyor at McGarrigle & Co will review your lease renewal position with you — no charge for the first conversation.
How soon do you need help?
Best way to reach you
Your details and anything you add are shared with mcgarrigle & co so they can advise you. Nothing here creates a surveyor–client relationship until agreed in writing.
Sponsored by McGarrigle & Co