Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

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Key definition

Tenant definition

What does Tenant mean? The person who takes a lease of land or premises and holds exclusive possession for a defined term, usually paying rent, under a lease or tenancy agreement. Usage is broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, and contrasts with a licensee (who lacks exclusive possession). Whether someone is a tenant is determined primarily by the grant of exclusive possession for a term, as recognised in case law (for England & Wales, Street v Mountford). Statutes define tenant for particular regimes, including: Housing Act 1988 (assured/AST) and Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (England & Wales); Private Housing (Tenancies)...

Old lease assignment: 1938 Act—action v assignor for want of repair

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Q&As

Enforcement of Tenant’s obligations regarding repair

Throughout the lease term, a Landlord generally has four avenues to enforce the tenant’s duties concerning the fabric of the demised premises:

where a right of re-entry exists, by exercising forfeiture to terminate the lease
where empowered by the lease or by statute, by undertaking the necessary repairs himself and recovering the expenditure from the tenant (eg under a Jervis v Harris clause)
in rare cases, by obtaining from the court an order compelling specific performance of the tenant’s repairing obligations
by pursuing a claim for damages for losses flowing from breach

These mechanisms relate specifically to the state and condition of the demised premises. Once the term has ended, the landlord’s sole remedy is damages. For further detail, see Landlord’s remedies for breaches of covenant by tenants concerning the fabric of the demised premises: Hill and Redman’s Law of Landlord and Tenant [3549].

Restrictions under the Leasehold Property (Repairs) Act 1938 (LP(R)A 1938)

Landlords’ claims for forfeiture, and for damages for breaches of a tenant’s repairing obligations, are subject to procedural constraints imposed by section 18(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 (LTA 1927) and the Leasehold Property (Repairs) Act 1938 (LP(R)A 1938)...

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Web page updated on 27/05/2026

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Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...

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