The Right to Renew: The Law Commission’s Consultation Paper on Business Tenancies

Edward Denehan and Lorenzo Leoni consider and discuss the Law Commissions’ Consultation Paper on the security of tenure provisions for business tenants conferred by Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (the “Act”), and the pros and cons of the alternative security of tenure models advanced by the Law Commission.

1:49    An overview of the current regulation of business tenancies.
4:03   Tenancies protected by section 23 of the Act.
5:21    Tenancies excluded from protection – section 43 of the Act.
5:39   Contracting out of the Act under section 38 of the Act and Regulatory Reform Business Tenancies (England & Wales) Order 2003.
8:49   There are 4 models considered by the Commission for security of tenure, ranging from minimum to maximum protection.
9:38   Model 1 – minimum security of tenure.
9:57    Model 2 – contracting in regime.
10:25  Model 3 – the current system – a contracting out regime.
10:40  Model 4 – return to original 1954 Act.  Not possible to contract out of security for tenure.
11:14    Law Commission pros and cons for all the models.
20:29  What prompted the Law Commission to consult?  What does the market want?  Is change needed?

For more information on the current position for business tenancies, you may also wish to listen to Daniel Dovar and Will Beetson‘s podcast on “Rude Awakenings and the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954: click here.

Case citations

• Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
• Law Commission’s Consultation Paper 1 Business Tenancies: the right to renew, models of security of tenure (Consultation Paper 266) dated 19 November 2024
• Regulatory Reform Business Tenancies (England & Wales) Order 2003
• Landlord & Tenant Act 1927
• Law of Property Act 1969
• Agricultural Holdings Act 1948