Death of landlord or tenant: lease vesting, succession and survivorship, notices, proceedings, termination, guarantors and HM Land Registry procedures (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

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This Practice Note examines matters arising when a party to a lease dies during the term, including the consequences for the lease, any termination rights that may emerge, how to serve notices on a deceased landlord or tenant or refer to them in proceedings, and the principle of survivorship. It also addresses what occurs on the death of a guarantor, and the approach to registration.

Vesting in personal representatives

Death of the tenant

The lease does not determine on the death of a sole tenant. Rather, the term (fixed or periodic) vests in the tenant’s personal representatives (PRs). It does not devolve under any Will or intestacy until expressly assigned. Where there is a Will, the executors take the lease immediately on the tenant’s death. If the tenant died intestate, or there are no validly appointed executors willing or able to act, the lease vests in the Public Trustee until a grant of administration is obtained. This vesting is an assignment by operation of law and therefore will not generally infringe a covenant against alienation. Residential tenancies benefiting from security of tenure may attract succession rights outside the deceased’s estate. See:...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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