Landlord and Tennants Act

[jhowe60]

I have been operating a seasonal lease upto 2009 from the months of March to October. Last year I was given a years lease and have been operating the business for the full 12 months. I have asked for a 5 year lease, but the landlords have not committed to it.This years lease comes to an end next week and I have just been told it is not being renewed. What rights have I got?

 

[lawyerlou]

I assume for now that you have a formal written lease. It may be that you are protected by the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 (LTA) but I would have to see the document to be sure. If you do have this protection, your lease does not come to an end on the contractual termination date, but continues as a 'statutory periodic tenancy'.

Your lease must specifically exclude your rights. If your lease does exclude the rights, it will usually contain a clause saying something like 'the parties hereby declare that the provisions of ss.24-28 of the LTA 1954 do not apply to the tenancy'.

If you have no formal lease, but have been paying rent regularly, you will have a periodic tenancy. This is likely either to be a monthly periodic tenancy if the rent is paid monthly, or a quarterly periodic tenancy if the rent is paid quarterly. This will be protected by the LTA.

If you have the above protection, the landlord cannot just throw you out! He has to serve the relevant notice (a s.25 Notice) and follow the correct procedure. The procedure involves giving at least six month's notice and specifying either that he is prepared to grant a new lease, and on what terms; or that he is not, stating specified grounds.

Let me know if you need any more help, but you will probably require the assistance of a local solicitor to deal with him.