What's a landlord's formal warning notice that Sections 24–28 (protected terms) won't apply, and when do you need it?
This template is a form of notice served by the landlord on the tenant that excludes the provisions of sections 24 to 28 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
It is very common for these terms to be excluded.
IF YOU SEND THIS NOTICE TO YOUR TENANT
The tenant must then make the correct selection, depending on the timeframe in which you have sent them this notice.
You shouldn't complete any elements of either template declaration. The tenant must make the selection and complete the detail for themselves.
The 1954 Act contains important protections for business tenants, such as the right to:
lawfully remain on the premises on the same terms as their existing lease when it expires and
ask the Court to grant them a new lease if terms can't be agreed with the landlord (called 'security of tenure').
Commercial landlords may well want to exclude this protection so they have greater control over what happens on their premises when a lease term ends.
The 1954 Act protections can only be excluded using a very formal, prescribed procedure involving notices and declarations, designed to ensure that the tenant fully understands the rights they're giving up.
Basically... the landlord has to produce a formal notice document and:
give it to the tenant at least 14 days before the start of the tenancy, and...
the tenant must then sign a formal declaration to confirm that they understand that the 1954 Act protections will not apply to the terms that they sign...
the lease must contain the appropriate wording confirming this agreement also.
If this process is followed correctly, then the protections set out in the legislation will not apply to the lease and at the end of the term, the tenant must leave the premises.
It's very common to exclude these terms in a commercial landlord and tenant relationship especially for a lease that's less than 5 years or where a landlord may only have a short-term need to let the premises. It's also very common in sub-leases.
Both landlord and tenant could, of course, subsequently decide that they do in fact want to renew a 'contracted-out' lease. They would then need to document this intention in the form of a new lease.
Please aim to change as little of the non-highlighted words as possible. This is because the wording follows the wording required by the L&TA 1954
What else might you need
If you send this notice to your tenant, you must also send to the tenant the Simple and Statutory Declaration Template for them to complete at the same time.
For more background on the important terms and the UK law that applies to commercial landlords and tenants, see our guide called Commercial Landlord and Tenant 101.
If you’re not sure what you need or you’d like some friendly help putting in place commercial tenancy arrangements, our speak to an adviser service is ideally positioned to help you get started.
