Q. I am the landlord of shop premises " down street" in South Shields. Although the lease ended over 3 months ago the tenant is still there. I would actually like to take over the shop myself and run my own business from it. Can I force the tenant to leave?
A. Yes. Although the general rule is that a business tenant is entitled to a further lease once his current lease has ended, there are exceptions to this rule. In particular, one of the exceptions is where a landlord requires the premises for the purposes of operating his own business.
It is necessary to serve a written notice upon the tenant giving him a minimum of 6 months notice. The tenant can apply to court to challenge the notice, but provided that the landlord genuinely wants to run his own business, then the court will order the tenant to leave.
One crumb of comfort for your tenant is that he will be entitled to compensation for disturbance to his business equivalent to either 1 or 2 x times the ratable value of the property, depending upon how long he has been there.
Business landlord & tenant law is a complex area and it is essential that you seek the guidance of an expert to ensure the correct notices are served on the correct dates. Should you require any assistance please contact Keith by email at ks@pgslaw.co.uk or by telephone on 0808 231 7043. Patterson, Glenton & Stracey have provided legal advice to the people of South Tyneside for over 125 years. For details of their full range of services and to view previous Gazette articles please log on to www.pgslaw.co.uk.
