Termination of Tenancies for Tenant Default - Law Commission

may not make an order under the provisions of the Bill. All other order-making
powers that the court may have are unaffected.
Schedule 5: Insolvency
186. The Insolvency Act 1986, as amended by the Insolvency Act 2000 and the
Enterprise Act 2002, places a number of restrictions on a landlord’s ability to
forfeit a tenancy whether by the issue and service of proceedings or by physical
re-entry.
187. This Schedule makes consequential amendments to the 1986 Act so as to
replace references to forfeiture with references to the appropriate remedy under
the Bill.
188. Paragraph 6(1) addresses the current position whereby there is no
statutory restriction on a landlord’s right to forfeit by physical re-entry when
proceedings on a bankruptcy petition are pending. 13 Section 285 of the
Insolvency Act 1986 is amended so that where a bankruptcy petition is pending,
a landlord may only serve a summary termination notice in respect of premises
let to the debtor if he or she obtains the leave of the court.
Schedule 6: Miscellaneous amendments
189. This Schedule sets out the amendments to other legislation made
necessary by the provisions of the Bill.
190. Paragraph 16 provides that section 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925 will
cease to have effect (in consequence of the effective abolition of forfeiture as a
result of clause 1).
191. Paragraphs 25 to 28 amend the Leasehold Property (Repairs) Act 1938.
Schedule 4 to the Bill addresses the restrictions on the enforcement of repairing
covenants in long leases to which paragraph 1 of that Schedule applies. The
1938 Act also places restrictions on the landlord’s right to recover damages from
the tenant for breach of a repairing covenant. Section 1(2) of the 1938 Act
provides that a landlord may not recover damages from the tenant for breach of a
repairing covenant unless a notice under section 146 of the Law of Property Act
1925 has been served. That will no longer be possible as a result of paragraph
16. Paragraph 26 therefore provides for a notice to be served under the 1938 Act
itself as a substitute.
192. Paragraphs 33 to 38 amend the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 to remove
references to forfeiture and substitute these with references to taking termination
action under the Bill. Paragraph 35(2) provides that a tenant’s application for a
new tenancy can proceed while the tenancy is being continued under section 24
of the 1954 Act, even where a landlord is taking termination action under this Bill.
193. Paragraph 36 defines the time for making a claim for compensation for
improvements by a tenant. This will be three months beginning with the date
specified in a termination order as being the date on which the tenancy is to
terminate, or on the expiry of one month after the service of a summary
13 Razzaq v Pala [1997] 1 WLR 1336.
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