Lease for 3yrs.; optional 6yr. renewal; I want only 3yrs. more

[progan]

I had a 3 year lease with an option for another 6 years. The 3 years have ended and i wrote to landlord stating they i would not be taking 6 years up but if he wanted i would take 3 years. landlord says 6 or nothing. do i have any rights.

[SteveP]

It depends upon whether you have contracted out of Part II of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954, see what the lease says.

Since 1st June 2004 where the prospective landlord and tenant agree to contract out, there is no need to apply to the Court for an order authorising the agreement as was the case before then.

An agreement to exclude the protection of the Act will be valid provided that the prospective landlord has served a statutory notice on the tenant and that the tenant has declared in writing that he has read the notice and understood the consequences of entering into the agreement. If the landlord’s notice is served less than 14 days before the tenant enters into the tenancy or becomes bound to do so, a slightly different form of statutory notice is required, and the tenant must observe the additional formality of making a statutory declaration. Reference to the notice and the tenant’s declaration or statutory declaration (as the case may be) must be contained in or endorsed on the lease.

[progan]

Steve their is nothing on lease about act 1954. Spoke to solicitor who says only thing I can do is to have dispute settled by independant person nominated by Royal institute of chartered surveyors. Thanks for your reply

[yeahbutno]

Hmmm.

Sounds like a DIY lease, which is alwaysd a bit risky. However, my interpretation of it is that unless the L&T is SPECIFICALLY excluded, then the courts (if it got that far) would deal with it as if it were within the Act .

In this case, it would mean that you ARE entitled to a further 3 year lease.

[SteveP]

Spoke to solicitor who says only thing I can do is to have dispute settled by independant person nominated by Royal institute of chartered surveyors.

Well you might note that I am a chartered surveyor.

You asked whether you had any rights.

If you have the protection of the 54 Act then you should be entitled to a new lease rather than extending the existing lease, consequently a new lease of three years could be yours as of right.

All a Chartered Surveyor can do is either act as your agent, he has no more power than you do, or attempt to mediate. He cannot make your landlord to anything.

[progan]

Hi Steve
thanks for your reply. I am having no luck whatsover. My solicitor sent landlord a letter saying we wanted to use independant arbitrator and landlord wrote back to him and said i must take 6 years which option was for or nothing.

[SteveP]

Well, your solicitor has all of the documents and he should be advising you.

It seems simple to me. You have a contractual right to extend the lease by six years. You can excercise your right or not, that is your choice. You have no contractual right to a 3 year extension.

You may have the statutory right to a new lease if you benefit from the protection of the 1954 Act. Your solicitor should be able to tell you whether you have that right.

You have no other rights, but there is nothing to prevent you from negotiating. However, be realistic. If your landlord is going to make the terms less risky for you and more risky for him he will expect something in return. Think about what incentives you can offer to him.

[propman2]

in these circumstances you need a solicitor if all you need to do is establish what leag right you have to renewal of lease. A surveyor will add little to this it is a legal issue which will be decided under the l and t act 54 and any subsequent amending legislation.

Why not gor for a 6 year lease with a tenant only(possibly mutual) break at expiry year 3

[propman2]

although a said in last post a surveyor would add little, they will of course advise on a market rent to ensure you do not overpay on the new lease