Q&As

A tenant serves a common law notice to quit, which is accepted by the landlord. The tenant fails to vacate the property within the time period stated in the notice to quit. Can the landlord bring possession proceedings immediately or must it serve its own notice to quit or wait until a certain period of time has elapsed?

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Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk
Published on: 05 December 2017
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In answering this Q&A, it is assumed that the tenancy in question is a residential tenancy, rather than a commercial lease. It is further assumed that the nature of the residential tenancy is an assured shorthold tenancy.

Such a tenancy amounts to a contract at Common law, but is also subject to various statutory enactments, including the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) and the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 (PEA 1977). A fixed-term tenancy cannot be terminated at common law by either party unless there is a break clause or surrender is accepted by the landlord. A Tenant seeking to terminate a fixed-term tenancy early will still be liable to pay the rent due for

Chris Bryden
Chris Bryden

Barrister, 4 King’s Bench Walk

Chris was called to the Bar in 2003 and since that time has built a busy practice across a range of areas, with an emphasis on Chancery practice. He enjoys a well-deserved reputation for his knowledge and expertise in each area. He appears regularly in the County Court, Family Court and the High Court as well as various specialist Tribunals, and has been involved in cases up to and including the Supreme Court. He regularly is instructed at Appellate level. He has extensive and wide-ranging experience particularly in the areas of wills, probate and inheritance disputes; property including adverse possession, boundary disputes and issues arising out of trusts of land; company and commercial work and financial remedies. Chris is head of the Family Group and head of the Property Team at 4KBW.

Chris is the author of numerous articles in publications such as the New Law Journal, Counsel and Family Law, amongst many other titles, and is the co-author of Social Media in the Workplace: A Handbook (2015, Jordan Publishing).

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Tenant definition
What does Tenant mean?

A person to whom a lease is granted.

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