Landlord and Tenant Act 1954

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (2 & 3 Eliz. 2. c. 56) is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament extending to England and Wales. Part II of the act is a statutory code governing business tenancies. Part I of the act, which deals with the protection of residential tenancies, is now largely superseded.

Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to provide security of tenure for occupying tenants under certain leases of residential property at low rents and for occupying sub-tenants of tenants under such leases; to enable tenants occupying property for business, professional or certain other purposes to obtain new tenancies in certain cases; to amend and extend the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1927, the Leasehold Property (Repairs) Act, 1938, and section eighty-four of the Law of Property Act, 1925; to confer jurisdiction on the County Court in certain disputes between landlords and tenants; to make provision for the termination of tenancies of derelict land; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation2 & 3 Eliz. 2. c. 56
Dates
Royal assent30 July 1954
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
See also: Landlord and Tenant Acts

Part II of the act gives business tenants a degree of security of tenure. A business tenant protected by the act may not be evicted simply by the giving of notice to quit or by the ending of a fixed term of the tenancy. The landlord must serve a notice on the tenant, stating which of the seven grounds of opposition they wish to rely upon to oppose a new tenancy.

Applicability

Part II of the Act applies to any tenancy where the property "is or includes premises which are occupied by the tenant and are so occupied for the purposes of a business carried on by him or for those and other purposes".[1]

There are some exceptions from the Act. These are included in S.43. These include mining leases and agricultural premises. The Act doesn't protect leases under a period of 6 months which hold no scope to renew. Both parties can agree not to be covered. Additionally, a tenancy granted by reason of employment by the grantor is excluded from the Act - providing that there is clear agreement in writing which states the purpose of the tenancy

In Graysim Holdings Ltd v P.&O. Property Holdings Ltd[2] the House of Lords considered the situation of a lease of a market hall to a tenant who then let individual market stalls to market traders. The questions was, whether the tenant could take advantage of the protection offered by the act. The House of Lords decided that the tenant could not be said to occupy for the purposes of the business that was being carried on there (which was being carried out by the market traders).

This decision was followed in Bassairi Limited v London Borough of Camden,[3] where the tenant let out the bulk of the premises as furnished apartments. Again, it was held that the tenant did not occupy for the purposes of a business.

See also

References
  1. section 23
  2. [1996] 1 AC 329
  3. Court of Appeal, Thursday 19 February 1998 (unreported)
  • Text of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
  • "Text of the Act as originally enacted in 1954" (PDF). from the Office of Public Sector Information (1.488 kB)
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