Reference library
Guides to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
One page for each question that decides a business lease renewal in England and Wales — from the notice that starts the clock to the rent that ends the argument. Each guide links back to the provisions it relies on.
- Guide 1
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, the notices involved and the deadlines that decide the outcome.
Read the guide - Guide 2
Security 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 the ways protection can be lost.
Read the guide - Guide 3
Section 25 notice explained
What a section 25 notice does, the prescribed forms, the 6–12 month notice window, how to check whether the notice is valid and what a tenant must do — and by when — to keep the right to a new lease.
Read the guide - Guide 4
Section 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 serving first helps or hurts.
Read the guide - Guide 5
Commercial lease renewal under the 1954 Act
A step-by-step timeline of business lease renewal under the 1954 Act: notices, information requests, negotiation, court applications, interim rent and the new lease.
Read the guide - Guide 6
Grounds for opposing a lease renewal
The seven grounds a landlord can use to oppose a new business tenancy under section 30(1)(a)–(g): what each requires, which are discretionary, and which trigger compensation.
Read the guide - Guide 7
Contracting out of the 1954 Act
The section 38A procedure for excluding security of tenure: the landlord's warning notice, the tenant's simple or statutory declaration, the 14-day rule and the mistakes that make exclusion invalid.
Read the guide - Guide 8
How the rent is decided on lease renewal
How section 34 fixes the rent for a renewed business tenancy: the open-market test, the four statutory disregards, the treatment of tenant's improvements and rent review clauses.
Read the guide - Guide 9
Interim 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 the guide - Guide 10
Compensation when a business tenancy ends
When a business tenant is entitled to compensation under section 37 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, how the one-times and two-times rateable value multipliers work, and when compensation can be excluded.
Read the guide - Guide 11
What happens when a commercial lease expires?
What happens at the end of a protected business lease: how section 24 continues the tenancy, what rent is payable while holding over, and how a contracted-out lease differs.
Read the guide - Guide 12
Who is the competent landlord?
How to identify the competent landlord for a 1954 Act renewal where there are intermediate leases, why it matters for section 25 and section 26, and how section 40 notices establish the chain.
Read the guide - Guide 13
1954 Act notice deadlines
Every deadline that matters on a business lease renewal: the 6–12 month notice window, the two-month counter-notice, the court application cut-off and the section 64 three-month tail.
Read the guide - Guide 14
Applying 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 the guide - Guide 15
Terms of the new lease
How the court fixes the terms of a renewal lease under sections 32 to 35: the holding, the length of term, and the O'May principle that the existing terms are the starting point.
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