Landlord meaning

Options for landlord This checklist outlines the choices open to a landlord of commercial premises where the tenant is an insolvent individual, and explains the effect of restrictions operating under the various insolvency regimes. Where a landlord of a commercial property seeks to take steps against an insolvent tenant who is an individual, this checklist should then be referred to to confirm whether the landlord is permitted to pursue such action...

This Checklist sets out the matters a landlord ought to weigh up where a tenant faces insolvency, highlighting the options open to the landlord, such as Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR), forfeiture, drawing on a rent deposit, and pursuing former tenants, guarantors and sub-tenants. It further addresses practical considerations for the landlord, including steps for securing and marketing the property, and contacting the insolvency practitioner. What type of insolvency scenario applies to the tenant? The remedies that can be exercised, and the limits that will bite, differ depending on the particular insolvency arrangement affecting the tenant. Each procedure brings distinct constraints and options. For a table summarising the restrictions, see Practice Note: Quick guide to landlord’s remedies in tenant insolvency. Has contact been made with the insolvency practitioner? It is vital to liaise with the relevant insolvency practitioner to assess the tenant’s position and to evaluate what, if any, prospect exists of outstanding sums being repaid, future rents being protected, or the tenant emerging from the...

This Checklist highlights principal actions and considerations for a tenant weighing up surrendering its lease to its landlord. It is not comprehensive, and you should always assess whether further matters arise that require attention in your specific situation, including any fact-specific risks or obligations. This guidance proceeds on the basis that the following apply: the surrender is by express agreement and not effected by operation of law, and no immediate re-grant in favour of the tenant will follow the surrender You can read this Checklist alongside Practice Note: Lease surrenders and Checklist Surrender of lease—acting for the landlord—checklist. How to use this Checklist Although the mechanics of a lease surrender broadly resemble a sale and purchase in commercial terms (the tenant effectively sells and the landlord buys), notable distinctions remain. The opening section (Key issues) identifies the main points for review, with additional explanation provided in the Procedure table below for handling a lease surrender, in more detail for...

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), a business lease carries on automatically after the end of the contractual term if the tenant remains in occupation for business purposes. Either party can bring those statutory rights to an end by serving one of the prescribed termination notices. This flowchart explains the steps for an unopposed business lease renewal under the LTA 1954. For the procedure where renewal is opposed, see: LTA 1954 opposed lease renewal procedure—flowchart. For further detail on LTA 1954 security of tenure and the court process, consult Practice Notes: LTA 1954 business lease renewal—proceedings and LTA 1954 business lease renewal—termination. Note 1 Diarise a date at least 12–18 months before the contractual expiry of the existing lease. See Practice Note: LTA 1954 business lease renewal—termination. Note 2 Information must be supplied within one month of service of the notice. A party is obliged to correct any information provided for six months after receiving the notice. This applies to both parties equally...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE : The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 obtained Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. For guidance on the Act’s effect on residential tenancies in England, see Practice Note: Renters’ Rights Act 2025—key provisions. This Flowchart outlines how to end an assured (AT) or assured shorthold tenancy (AST) via section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988), including: service of a section 8 notice issuing proceedings the steps in the case leading to an order for possession Where HA 1988 applies, unless the tenant agrees to leave voluntarily, a landlord may recover possession only by using the procedures in HA 1988, sections 8 or 21, obtaining an order for possession and enforcing it. See Practice Note: Assured and assured shorthold tenancies—terminating. The section 8 process is available where the tenant has defaulted on tenancy obligations (for example, failing to pay rent) or the landlord qualifies for possession on another HA 1988, Sch 2 ground, whether during a fixed...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE : The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 obtained Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. For insight into how it affects residential tenancies in England, refer to Practice Note: Renters' Rights Act 2025—key provisions. This Flowchart outlines the steps for ending an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) via the standard possession route, covering when to serve a section 21 notice, when to issue proceedings, and the procedural milestones up to a possession order. Where HA 1988 governs, unless the tenant chooses to leave of their own accord, a landlord may regain possession only by following the mechanisms in HA 1988, ss 8 or 21, securing a possession order and enforcing it. For more detail, see Practice Note: Assured and assured shorthold tenancies—terminating. Under HA 1988, s 21, a landlord may terminate a fixed-term AST by giving the tenant no less than two months’ written notice, exercising a break clause during the term, or at the end of, or after the...

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council v Kazi [2024] EWCA Civ 1037 What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling will be welcomed by local authorities nationwide, many of whom operate comparable policies. They can continue to apply those policies with confidence, while recognising they are guidance to be used flexibly in light of the facts of each case. Local authorities and the FTT should likewise keep to Marshall [54]: start from the policy and deviate only where a landlord has shown there are exceptional grounds. That said, they must remain alert to the policy’s aims and consider whether those aims will still be achieved if the policy is not followed. In this matter, having decided the second ground, the Court of Appeal declined to determine the first issue (para [47]). Interestingly, the judgment also signals agreement with the view that appeals under HA 2004, s 249A are not a vehicle for challenging a local authority’s housing policy, but only a means to contest a penalty...

On Tower UK Ltd v British Telecommunications Plc [2025] EWCA Civ 844 What are the practical implications of this case? Landlords and site providers will need to ensure that an agreement’s term has been, or will be, brought to an end in accordance with its contractual terms before serving paragraph 31 notices under the Electronic Communications Code, in Schedule 3A to the Communications Act 2003 (CA 2003) (Code), where those notices are intended to take effect after the contractual term has ended. The decision leaves open whether a landlord or site provider must wait for a break notice to expire, and demonstrate satisfaction of any break pre-conditions, before a paragraph 31 notice can then be issued; or whether it is adequate simply to serve the break notice and then—perhaps the following day—a paragraph 31 notice (or even to place both mechanisms within a single document). If that latter course is available, there remains the question of what the position would be if one or more break pre-conditions ultimately cannot...

In this issue: Brexit highlights Brexit SIs Post-Brexit transition guidance Public procurement Constitutional and administrative law Judicial review Equality and human rights State security and intelligence Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Brexit highlights NIO publishes Terms of Reference for Independent Review of Windsor Framework The Northern Ireland Office has released the Terms of Reference for an Independent Review of the Windsor Framework, as required by Schedule 6A to the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Initiated after a consent motion cleared the Northern Ireland Assembly without cross-community endorsement, the review will consider how the Framework is working and its influence on social, economic and political life in Northern Ireland. It is consistent with undertakings in the October 2019 Unilateral Declaration and the January 2024 Safeguarding the Union Command Paper. The resulting findings will be submitted to the UK Government, supplying vital...

What is a service charge? A service charge is a sum a tenant may have to pay to a landlord under a commercial lease to reimburse the landlord for services they provide in connection with the common parts and for the upkeep of the property. Commonly, this applies where multiple tenants occupy one property, for example a shopping centre, and the landlord looks after the communal parts of the building for everyone’s benefit. In most contemporary leases the tenant pays the service charge on account, before the landlord incurs the expenditure, calculated from an estimate of the next year’s costs. At the close of the accounting period a reconciliation is prepared and any shortfall or surplus is settled by or to the tenant. Sometimes, earlier forms of lease stipulate that the landlord must meet the outlay first. For more detail on service charges ordinarily charged to tenants of multi-occupied buildings by commercial landlords in Scotland, see Practice Note: Service charge and outgoing provisions in commercial leases in Scotland. ...

What is a CVA? A company voluntary arrangement (CVA) is a form of insolvency that permits a company to enter a binding agreement with its creditors to compromise unsecured debts or otherwise agree how its affairs are handled. The directors continue to run the business, under the oversight of an insolvency practitioner. Retailers, particularly those with extensive property portfolios, frequently adopt so‑called ‘landlord CVAs’ to reset rental commitments and shut loss‑making stores. This note outlines how property law and landlord and tenant considerations may emerge under such a CVA. It highlights provisions commonly included in CVAs and explains how they tend to work in practice. Nevertheless, each CVA will vary according to the precise terms proposed. It is therefore vital to examine the CVA proposal carefully to assess its effect on creditors. This note does not provide detailed guidance on the mechanics of approving and implementing a CVA. For Practice Notes addressing the CVA procedure, see: Company voluntary arrangements—an introductory guide The CVA proposal and...

Prior to the coming into force of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, Part II (LTA 1987), the court retained a wide-ranging jurisdiction to appoint a receiver to assume control of the management of any property (including a block of flats) whenever it was considered just and convenient to do so. Nonetheless, that power was seldom exercised in practice in relation to blocks of flats, likely owing to the expense and the frequent requirement, in most cases, and, where applicable, to evidence default by the landlord or managing agents regarding the performance of the landlord’s repairing, maintenance or insurance obligations under the lease. Part II of the LTA 1987 offers an alternative remedy by vesting power in (what are now) the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in England and the leasehold valuation tribunal in Wales to appoint a manager to take over the management of premises comprising flats; yet that jurisdiction likewise arises only where there is some default by the landlord or the managing agents in performing the landlord’s repair,...

LR1. Date of the lease [ enter the date in full format DD-Month-Year ] LR2. Title Number[s] LR2.1 Landlord's title number [ s ] [ the title numbers from which this lease is granted. Leave blank if unregistered ] LR2.2 Other title numbers [ existing title number [ s ] against which entries relating to LR9, LR10, LR11 and LR13 are to be made ] LR3. Parties to this lease Landlord [ enter landlord's name and address ] Tenant [ enter tenant's name and address ] Other parties LR4. Property Where this clause conflicts with any other part of the lease, then, for registration purposes, this clause shall take precedence. [ enter details of the Property ] LR5. Prescribed statements etc LR5.1 Statements prescribed under rules 179 (dispositions in favour of a charity), 180 (dispositions by a charity) or 196 (leases under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban...

Your Ref: Our Ref: Date: From: [ insert name of landlord’s solicitor ] at [ insert address ] To: [ insert name of tenant or tenant’s solicitor ] at [ insert address ] Dear [ insert organisation name ] [ insert particulars of the lease ] (the ‘Lease’) relating to [ insert name of property ] (the ‘Property’) We act on behalf of [ insert name of client ], being [ your landlord OR your client’s landlord ] under the Lease. Please note that [ your OR your client’s ] Lease of the Property is scheduled to end on [ insert date of determination of the contractual term of the lease ]. Kindly arrange for [ you OR your client ] to yield up possession of the Property upon the Lease’s expiry. For the return of the keys, [ Our client’s OR Our client’s agent’s ] contact particulars are [ insert landlord or agent’s contact details ]. If you...

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN FROM: [ insert name of landlord ], of [ insert landlord’s address ] (the ‘Landlord’) PREMISES: [ insert full address of the Premises ] LEASE: a lease relating to the Premises dated [ insert date of lease ], entered into between [ insert names of original parties to the lease ] Today, the Landlord has exercised rights of re-entry to the Premises in accordance with clause [ insert forfeiture clause number ] of the Lease and the locks have been changed. With effect from today, the Lease is forfeited and therefore at an end. If you have any enquiries concerning the Premises or any items remaining within it, please contact [ insert name and address of landlord or its managing agent ]. Date: Signed: [ insert name of Landlord/agents acting on behalf of Landlord ] [ for and on behalf of the Landlord ]...

Section 213 of the Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) sets out the obligations on landlords who take a deposit in relation to an assured shorthold tenancy. Every deposit must be handled in line with an authorised scheme (HA 2004, s 213(1)), and the scheme’s initial requirements must be met within a period of 30 days from receipt of the deposit (HA 2004, s 213(3))...

Section 17 of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 (LT(C)A 1995) provides that: (1) This provision applies where a person (“the former tenant”) has, as a consequence of an assignment, ceased to be the tenant under a tenancy, but either: namely that (a) in the context of a new tenancy, has, under an authorised guarantee agreement, guaranteed his assignee’s performance of a tenant covenant of that tenancy under which any fixed charge is payable; or (b) in relation to any tenancy, still remains obliged by that covenant under that tenancy, notwithstanding assignment...

Assured shorthold tenancies An Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) is a form of assured tenancy that permits a landlord to rent out a dwelling, while still keeping the ability to recover possession of the property once the term finishes. This differs from regulated and other assured tenancies, where the occupier might have a right to remain in the home when the term ends. For further detail, see Practice Note: A summary of types of private residential tenancies, under the heading A summary of types of private residential tenancies—Assured shorthold tenancies. As to how an AST arises, the starting position is that any residential letting granted on or after 28 February 1997 will, by default, be an AST, unless the landlord has served a notice on the tenant confirming that the tenancy will not be an AST...