Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Irritancy definition

What does Irritancy mean? In Scottish leasing practice, irritancy is the landlord’s right to end a lease (forfeiture) when the tenant is in default, typically for non-payment of rent or breach/contravention of lease obligations (for example, user, repair, alienation or insolvency provisions). It may arise as legal irritancy (implied by law, historically for non‑payment) or conventional irritancy (set out in the lease). Enforcement normally requires (i) service of a pre‑irritancy warning notice and (ii) a court decree (declarator and decree of removing) if possession is not yielded. The Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1985 regulates enforcement: it restricts termination for monetary breaches...

Irritancy in commercial leases (Scotland): legal and conventional grounds, statutory procedure, defences, impact on sub-leases and charge-holders, and proposed reforms

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Practice notes

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Background

This Practice Note explores the law of irritancy within the sphere of commercial leases in Scotland. It examines the distinction between legal and conventional irritancies, the procedure for exercising irritancy, available defences, and the consequences for sub-leases and charge-holders. It does not cover:

human rights challenges to irritancy
the interaction of irritancy with the corporate insolvency regime
irritancy in the context of residential property, see Practice Note: Residential tenancies in Scotland—bringing to an end
irritancy in the context of agricultural property, see Practice Note: Irritancy of agricultural tenancies in Scotland

Irritancy is a landlord’s remedy that permits termination of a lease following a tenant’s breach. It is equivalent to the English remedy of forfeiture. An irritancy may arise by operation of law or be conventional.

Legal irritancy

An irritancy arising by law is known as a legal irritancy. Under Scots common law, the sole recognised legal irritancy is for non-payment of two successive years’ rent. In that circumstance, on the expiry of the two-year period, the landlord may terminate the lease and, if the premises are not vacated, commence proceedings to evict the tenant...

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Gavin Deeprose

DLA Piper

Gavin is a Senior Professional Support Lawyer in DLA Piper's Litigation & Regulatory Group. He provides technical support to legal professionals within the Group across a diverse range of subject areas including property, commercial and regulatory disputes. He monitors, updates and trains lawyers and clients on relevant legal and regulatory developments, creates and maintains litigation and other styles for use within the Group and produces articles and client bulletins for publication on the firm's website and newspapers, journals and online platforms. He also works on global projects to enhance the quality of client service.Prior to becoming a professional support lawyer Gavin gained substantial experience as practitioner, working at two major Scottish firms. He is an experienced litigator specialising in commercial disputes, including property related claims, corporate debt recovery and repossessions, and insurance litigation, acting for many prominent companies and financial...

Alistair Drummond

DLA Piper

Alistair heads up DLA Piper's Litigation and Regulatory practice in Scotland, and specialises in all aspects of Commercial Property and Commercial Lease disputes and Contentious Construction issues. He advises on wide ranging matters including dilapidations, keep open clauses, landlord's consent, irritancy, lease interpretation, servitudes, enforcement of missives and agreements for lease, amongst others. Recognised by his peers and clients alike as having extensive and comprehensive knowledge of his area of practice, Alistair is frequently requested to lecture and present seminars and training events on the subject. ...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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