Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An 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. |
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Citation | 2 & 3 Eliz. 2. c. 56 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 30 July 1954 |
Other legislation | |
Amends | |
Status: Amended | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |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. |
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 Part I of the act (sections 1-21), which dealt with the protection of residential tenancies, is now largely superseded. Part II of the act (sections 22-46) is a statutory code governing business tenancies. Various other matters are covered in Parts III and IV.
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.
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 under the act, which are included in section 43. These include mining leases and agricultural premises. The act does not protect leases with a term of less than 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 question considered 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.
Esselte AB v Pearl Assurance plc in 1997 established that when a tenant ceases to occupy the property for business purposes then their security of tenure will cease. [4]
The 1954 act was amended by the Regulatory Reform (Business Tenancies) (England and Wales) Order 2003 (SI 2003/3096), which was made on 1 December 2003 and came into effect on 1 June 2004. [5] This order was adopted under the UK's regulatory reform agenda, which aimed at removing legislative burdens on businesses. The order implemented many of the recommendations of a Law Commission report of 1992 on business tenancies. [6] The main changes adopted under this order were:
A consultation draft for a revised form of section 25 notice was issued in January 2004. This required a landlord to set out the terms proposed for the new lease: without the inclusion of proposed terms the notice would not be valid. Lawyer Malcolm Dowden commented that landlords who simply wanted a section 25 notice "to contain a wish list of terms" would need to beware, arguing that a 2003 court ruling in Mount Cook v Rosen, which addressed the meaning of the term "proposal" as used in the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, was likely to be applied in Landlord and Tenant Act cases. This would require "proposed terms" to be read as "realistic" terms or terms based on expert valuation advice. [7]
A tenant farmer is a person who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying amounts of capital and management. Depending on the contract, tenants can make payments to the owner either of a fixed portion of the product, in cash or in a combination. The rights the tenant has over the land, the form, and measures of payment vary across systems. In some systems, the tenant could be evicted at whim ; in others, the landowner and tenant sign a contract for a fixed number of years. In most developed countries today, at least some restrictions are placed on the rights of landlords to evict tenants under normal circumstances.
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant. When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner. The term landlady may be used for the female owners. The manager of a pub in the United Kingdom, strictly speaking a licensed victualler, is referred to as the landlord/landlady. In political economy it refers to the owner of natural resources alone from which an economic rent, a form of passive income, is the income received.
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user to pay the owner for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial or business equipment are also leased. In essence, a lease agreement is a contract between two parties: the lessor and the lessee. The lessor is the legal owner of the asset, while the lessee obtains the right to use the asset in return for regular rental payments. The lessee also agrees to abide by various conditions regarding their use of the property or equipment. For example, a person leasing a car may agree to the condition that the car will only be used for personal use.
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a leasehold estate is typically considered personal property.
As a legal term, ground rent specifically refers to regular payments made by a holder of a leasehold property to the freeholder or a superior leaseholder, as required under a lease. In this sense, a ground rent is created when a freehold piece of land is sold on a long lease or leases. The ground rent provides an income for the landowner. In economics, ground rent is a form of economic rent meaning all value accruing to titleholders as a result of the exclusive ownership of title privilege to location.
Rent control in Ontario refers to a system of rent regulation in Ontario, Canada which limits the amount by which the rent paid by tenants for rental accommodation can increase. It applies to any unit that was first occupied for residential purposes before November 15, 2018.
The assured shorthold tenancy (AST) is the default legal category of residential tenancy in England and Wales. It is a form of assured tenancy with limited security of tenure, which was introduced by the Housing Act 1988 and saw an important default provision and a widening of its definition made by the Housing Act 1996. Since 28 February 1997 in respect of accommodation to new tenants who are new to their landlords, the assured shorthold tenancy has become the most common form of arrangement that involves a private residential landlord. The equivalent in Scotland is short assured tenancy.
Landlord harassment is the willing creation, by a landlord or their agents, of conditions that are uncomfortable for one or more tenants in order to induce willing abandonment of a rental contract. This is illegal in many jurisdictions, either under general harassment laws or specific protections, as well as under the terms of rental contracts or tenancy agreements.
An assured tenancy is a legal category of residential tenancy to an individual in English land law. Statute affords a tenant under an assured tenancy a degree of security of tenure. A tenant under an assured tenancy may not be evicted without a reasonable ground in the Housing Act 1988 and, where periodic changes in rent are potentially subject to a challenge before a rent assessment committee.
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 is a UK act of Parliament on English land law. It sets minimum standards in tenants' rights against their landlords.
Landlord–tenant law is the field of law that deals with the rights and duties of landlords and tenants.
The Ellis Act is a 1985 California state law that allows landlords to evict residential tenants to "go out of the rental business" in spite of desires by local governments to compel them to continue providing rental housing.
In England and Wales, a Section 8 notice, also known as a Section 8 notice to quit or Form 3, is a notice required to be given in England and Wales by the landlord to the tenant of an assured tenancy or assured shorthold tenancy who wishes to obtain a possession order from the court, thereby ending the tenancy, for a reason based on a circumstance entitling the landlord to possession under the grounds pleaded. "Section 8" refers to that section of the Housing Act 1988, as amended by the Housing Act 1996.
The history of rent control in England and Wales is a part of English land law concerning the development of rent regulation in England and Wales. Controlling the prices that landlords could make their tenants pay formed the main element of rent regulation, and was in place from 1915 until its abolition by the Housing Act 1988.
In England and Wales, a section 21 notice, also known as a section 21 notice of possession or a section 21 eviction, is a notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, that a landlord must give to their tenant to begin the process to take possession of a property let on an assured shorthold tenancy without providing a reason for wishing to take possession. The expiry of a section 21 notice does not bring a tenancy to its end. The tenancy would only be ended by a landlord obtaining an order for possession from a court, and then having that order executed by a County Court bailiff or High Court enforcement officer. Such an order for possession may not be made to take effect earlier than six months from the beginning of the first tenancy unless the tenancy is a demoted assured shorthold tenancy. If the court is satisfied that a landlord is entitled to possession, it must make an order for possession, for a date no later than 14 days after the making of the order unless exceptional hardship would be caused to the tenant in which case possession may be postponed to a date no later than six weeks after the making of the order. The court has no power to grant any adjournment or stay of execution from enforcement unless the tenant has a disability discrimination, public law or human rights defence, or the case is pending an appeal.
A short assured tenancy is a type of tenancy in Scotland that was introduced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988. A short assured tenancy gives landlords some protection and freedom of action when letting their properties. Short assured tenancies have become the norm within the residential letting industry in Scotland. The equivalent legislation in England and Wales is assured shorthold tenancy. Following the enactment of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, it is no longer possible to create a short assured tenancy, instead a private residential tenancy must be entered into; with greater protections for the tenant such as security of tenure.
Landlord–tenant law in Tamil Nadu is the law governing the legal relationship or jural relationship that exists between the landlord and tenant as long as the valid tenancy continues between them with regard to the demised premises. The principal landlord–tenant statute in Tamil Nadu is The Tamil Nadu Buildings Act, 1960 [Tamil Nadu Act No. XVIII of 1960].
Rent regulation in Canada is a set of laws and policies which control the amount by which rental prices for real property can increase year to year. Each province and territory can pass legislation, where the purpose is to limit rent prices increasing beyond what is affordable for most home dwellers.
Rent regulation in England and Wales is the part of English land law that creates rights and obligations for tenants and landlords.
Tunstall v Steigmann [1962] 2 QB 593 is a British company law case concerning, inter alia, the separate legal personality of an incorporated company.