Law Commission to review Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 has afforded business tenants a ‘statutory right of renewal’ of commercial premises for just under 70 years, and whilst the Act has its tactical advantages, it also has its downsides. The Law Commission states that the Act is viewed by many as “inflexible, bureaucratic and out of date, causing extra cost and delay for both landlords and tenants”. Indeed, in today’s commercial leasing market, it is now the norm for leases to be contracted out of the Act.

Recognising the shift in the current leasing landscape, the rise of online retail (intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic) and the practical application of the Act in today’s modern world, the Law Commission announced on 28 March 2023 that it is to undertake a review of the Act which will:

• explore the problems with the existing law with a view to developing a modern legal framework that is widely used rather than opted out of, and that helps businesses to grow and communities to thrive;
• seek to support the long-term resilience of high streets, by making sure current legislation is fit for today’s commercial market, while also considering Government priorities of growing the economy, including net zero and levelling up (aiding the regeneration of the country’s town centres);
• seek to ensure that the revised Act is simple and works for landlords, businesses and communities;
• make leasing clearer and more easily accessible to small businesses and community groups, reducing the growing number of vacant properties on high streets and the anti-social behaviour that comes with it; and
• foster a productive, beneficial commercial leasing relationship between landlords and tenants.

The review will be commissioned by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and will form part of the Government’s new anti-social behaviour action plan.

Precise details of the review have not yet been published, but given the agenda put forward by the Law Commission we would expect it to consider (as a minimum) the law and procedure surrounding security of tenure. The Law Commission aims to publish a consultation paper by December 2023, and we will provide further updates as and when the paper is made available.