Commercial lease & property
Property disputes for landlords, freeholders and commercial tenants
Lease renewals, dilapidations, service charges, forfeiture — and possession, which since 1 May 2026 is a different exercise entirely.
Renters’ Rights Act 2025
Possession has changed, and not everyone has caught up
Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026. The transitional window for notices already served closed on 31 July 2026. There is no longer a route to possession that does not require a ground.
30 Apr 2026
Last day to serve a section 21 notice
1 May 2026
Section 21 abolished
31 Jul 2026
Transitional window closed
Today
Possession requires section 8 and a ground under Schedule 2
What that means in practice
You need a ground, and you need to evidence it
Possession now runs through section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 and the amended grounds in Schedule 2. The ground has to be made out on evidence, which is a different exercise from serving a notice and counting days.
Selling carries a twelve-month consequence
Ground 1A, the mandatory ground for sale, requires four months’ notice, cannot be used in the first twelve months of a tenancy, and prevents you marketing the property to let — including as a short-term let — for twelve months after service. For a portfolio that is a sequencing decision, not a form.
The arrears threshold has moved
Ground 8 now requires three months’ arrears rather than two, with four weeks’ notice. Action that could once begin at two months now cannot.
Your paperwork matters more than it did
Section 21 forgave a good deal of defective documentation. Section 8 grounds are less forgiving, and the time to find a problem in your tenancy agreements is before you need possession rather than after.
If you hold more than a handful of units and you expect to need possession in the next two years, the work worth doing is a review of your documentation and a plan for sequencing — not an urgent call when a tenant stops paying.
Where we act
Commercial leases
01
Commercial lease disputes
The disputes that arise during a lease term rather than at its end — repair, alterations, assignment, rent review and breach.
02
Lease renewal and the 1954 Act
Security of tenure under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, section 25 and section 26 notices, the grounds on which a landlord can oppose renewal, and the terms of the new lease where renewal is agreed. Whether a tenancy was validly contracted out is a question that arrives years later, at the worst moment, and is answered by what was done at the start.
03
Dilapidations
Schedules of dilapidations, terminal and interim, and the argument about what the works are actually worth as against the damage to the landlord’s reversion.
04
Service charge and management disputes
Recoverability under the lease, reasonableness, consultation requirements, and disputes between freeholders, managing agents and leaseholders.
05
Forfeiture, break notices and termination
Forfeiture and relief from it, break clauses and the conditions attached to them — where a break notice fails on a technicality the consequences run for the rest of the term.
Residential
06
Landlord and tenant
Tenancy documentation, the obligations that now apply, and disputes short of possession.
07
Possession claims
Section 8 grounds, notices, proceedings and enforcement under the regime as it now stands.
Who we act for
Portfolio landlords, freeholders, property companies, and commercial tenants negotiating exits or renewals
If you hold a portfolio, or you are a commercial tenant with a lease worth arguing about, the work is advisory before it is procedural — and that is what we do.
Fees
What it costs
£400/hr
plus VAT, with a scope and estimate agreed before we start.
Two pieces of work are commonly fixed-fee: a portfolio documentation review, establishing whether your tenancy agreements support the grounds you are likely to need, and a lease review against a specific commercial lease. Both are quoted before we begin.
Questions
Questions people ask us
Can I still use a section 21 notice?
No. Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026, the last valid notices had to be served by 30 April 2026, and the transitional window for bringing proceedings on those notices closed on 31 July 2026. All possession now runs through section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 and a ground under Schedule 2.
I want to sell a property with a tenant in it. What do I do?
Ground 1A is the mandatory ground for sale. It requires four months’ notice, cannot be used within the first twelve months of the tenancy, and prevents you from marketing the property to let — including as a short-term let — for twelve months after the notice is served. If you may want to re-let rather than sell, that restriction matters a great deal, so the decision needs making before the notice goes out.
My tenant is two months in arrears. Can I start possession proceedings?
Not on Ground 8, which now requires three months’ arrears rather than two, with four weeks’ notice. Other grounds may be available depending on the circumstances, and there are steps worth taking at two months that are not possession proceedings.
My commercial lease is ending. Do I have a right to renew?
If the tenancy has security of tenure under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, generally yes — unless the landlord can establish one of the statutory grounds of opposition. If it was validly contracted out at the start, no. That question turns on what was done before the lease was granted, and it is worth establishing the answer well before the term ends rather than in the final months.
The landlord has served a schedule of dilapidations for a very large sum. Is it enforceable?
Rarely at the figure claimed. Schedules are usually opening positions, and the landlord’s recovery is limited by reference to the damage to the value of the reversion rather than simply the cost of the works — which frequently produces a much lower number, particularly where the property is to be redeveloped or relet in a different configuration.
Can I challenge a service charge?
Often. The questions are whether the cost is recoverable under the lease at all, whether it was reasonably incurred, whether the standard of work was reasonable, and whether consultation requirements were followed where they applied. Failures of consultation can cap recovery significantly.
I missed a condition on my break clause. Is the break still effective?
Possibly not, and this is an area where the courts are strict. Conditions about vacant possession, payment of rent and the state of the premises are construed precisely, and a break that fails leaves the tenant liable for the remainder of the term. If a break date is approaching, take advice early rather than after serving.
This page is general information, not legal advice. The possession regime changed on 1 May 2026 — take advice on your own position.
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