Coming Soon
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, which regulates the security and renewal of business tenancies is about to be the subject of major reform. The proposed reforms are set out in the Regulatory Reform (Business Tenancies) (England and Wales) Order 2003, which was placed before Parliament on the 16th of September last. It is expected that the Order will be enacted at the beginning of next year. The main changes proposed are as follows:

• It will no longer be necessary to obtain a court order to exclude the security of tenure provisions in the Act.
• Instead, landlords must serve a notice on the prospective tenant at least 14 days before the lease is executed, warning that there will be no security of tenure.
• The 14 day period can be waived, but the prospective tenant will need to complete a statutory declaration indicating that the warning has been received and is accepted.
  

• If a landlord is not opposing the grant of a new lease, then the Section 25 Notice which is served by the landlord at the end of the tenancy, or the landlord’s Counternotice to a Section 26 Request for a New Tenancy must set out the landlord’s proposed terms for the new lease.
• Tenants will no longer be required to serve a Counternotice in response to a Section 25 Notice served by their landlord.
• The strict 2-4 month time limits for responding to service of notices will be abolished and the parties will be able to agree a deadline for making an application to the court for a new lease.
• Landlords, as well as tenants, will be able to apply to the court for the lease renewal proceedings to commence.
• Tenants, and not just landlords, will be entitled to apply for an interim rent during the proceedings. (They may wish to do this where their rent is higher than the current market rent.)
• The maximum term for a new lease will be increased from 14 to 15 years.

Derek Williams Partner / Head of Department 020 7544 5653 derekw@sghlaw.com