The version of section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) in force on 19 June 2020 provided that the court can order possession of a dwelling house if satisfied that three months’ notice in writing had been given to the tenant. That is because paragraph 7 of Schedule 29 to the Coronavirus Act 2020 (CA 2020) substitutes into HA 1988, s 21 the words ‘three months’ in place of the usual ‘two months’. The prescribed form of section 21 notice is set

The changes brought about by the Deregulation Act 2015 Section 21A of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) was inserted by section 38 of the Deregulation Act 2015 (DA 2015). It applies to all tenancies granted after 1 October 2015. HA 1988, s 21A requires landlords to comply with ‘prescribed requirements’ in order to validly serve a notice under HA 1988, s 21. These ‘prescribed requirements’ are defined in the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 (Prescribed Requirements Regs 2015), SI 2015/1646. The new HA 1988, s 21A provides: ‘…(1) A notice under subsection (1) or (4) of section 21 may not be given in relation to an assured shorthold tenancy

This Q&A considers how long a notice seeking possession served under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) lasts and when it is deemed to have expired. HA 1988, s 8(1) provides, materially, as follows: ‘The court shall not entertain proceedings for possession of a dwelling-house let on an assured tenancy unless— (a) the landlord or, in the case of joint landlords, at least one of them has served on the tenant a notice in accordance with this section and the proceedings are begun within the time limits stated in the notice

In Mannai Investment Co Ltd v Eagle Star Assurance Co Ltd , a break clause was exercised but giving the last date as the date before the true date on which the break was exercisable. The House of Lords held that the construction of the notices had to be approached objectively, and the question was how a reasonable recipient would have understood them, bearing in mind their context; that the purpose of the notices was to inform the landlord of the tenant's decision to determine the leases in accordance with the break clauses; that a reasonable recipient with knowledge of the terms of the leases and

Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) provides for security of tenure for business tenancies which are not opted out of its provisions. In practice, this means that a tenancy does not come to an end at its expiration date by effluxion of time but continues on a statutory tenancy. Either the landlord or the tenant can apply to the court for the grant of a new tenancy. By virtue of LTA 1954, s 25 the landlord can give notice to the tenant to terminate the

Where a business tenant makes a request for a new tenancy under section 26 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), the landlord has two months from the service of the request in which to give a counter-notice indicating their intention to oppose the new lease (LTA 1954, s 26(6)). See, generally, Practice Note: LTA 1954 business lease renewal—termination. This question raises the issue of whether service of the counter-notice on solicitors for the tenant, rather than the tenant

A tenant with security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) is entitled (subject to the landlord’s rights of opposition) to seek a new lease of the ‘holding’. The ‘holding’ is defined at LTA 1954, s 23(3) to mean ‘the property comprised in the tenancy, there being excluded any part thereof which is occupied neither by the tenant nor by a person employed by the tenant and so employed for the purposes of a business by reason of which the tenancy is one

Service of a section 26 request A business tenant may request a new tenancy by service of a notice pursuant to section 26 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), where the tenancy is granted for a term of years exceeding one year, or granted for a term of years certain and thereafter from year-to-year. The notice must be served by the tenant or all joint tenants. Service of the request must be made in accordance with section 23 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 (LTA 1927) (see LTA 1954, s 66(4)). LTA 1927, s 23(2) provides that: ‘Unless or until a tenant of a holding shall have received notice that the person theretofore entitled to the rents and profits of the holding (hereinafter referred to as “the original landlord”) has ceased to be so entitled, and also notice of the name and address of

If the competent landlord fails to respond to a section 42 notice in time, or at all, then the intermediate landlord will have a claim against the competent landlord for breach of its statutory duty to exercise reasonable care under section 40(2) of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) and LRHUDA 1993, Sch 1 Pt I, para 6(4). Before

Section 57(1) of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) provides that the terms of the new lease must be granted in accordance with LRHUDA 1993, s 56(1) as to rent (peppercorn) and duration (90 years after term date of existing lease), and otherwise as per the terms of the existing lease subject to certain specified modifications as appropriate. LRHUDA 1993, s 57(6) provides that LRHUDA 1993, s 57(1) does not preclude the landlord and tenant, in certain specified circumstances, from agreeing terms for the new lease which are not in accordance with the existing lease. However, this

The position will turn on the validity of the first notice. There can only be one valid notice seeking a lease extension under section 42 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) (see LRHUDA 1993, s 42(6)). Therefore, if the first notice was valid, the second cannot be. The validity of the first notice will turn on the effect of the error. As explained in Practice Note: Guide to lease extensions of flats under

We are not aware of any authority in respect of extending the time limit specified in a tenant’s section 42 notice for service of the landlord’s section 45 counter-notice. Section 45 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) provides that: ‘The landlord shall give a counter-notice under this section to the tenant by the date specified in the tenant's notice in pursuance of section 42(3)(f)’. LRHUDA 1993, s 42(3)(f) provides that the tenant’s section 42 notice must: ‘specify the date by which the landlord must respond to the notice by giving a counter-notice under section 45’ and under section 42(5) that must be a date falling not less than two months after the date of the giving of the notice. If the landlord fails to serve a counter-notice by the date specified in the section 42 notice,