Termination of Tenancies for Tenant Default - Law Commission

unless valid notices have been given (to the tenant, any qualifying interest
holders and “The Occupier”) and the deadline for any remedial action required by
the notice has expired. Until expiry of this deadline, the tenant has the opportunity
to put right the tenant default without fear of a termination claim being made. In
the event that the landlord proceeds with a termination claim, the court will take
into account the length of time that the tenant was given to remedy the tenant
default and any other relevant conduct of the parties.
2.20 As a general rule, failure to comply with the tenant default notice requirements
under the scheme will prevent the landlord from making a termination claim. The
court may, however, where it is just and equitable to do so, dispense with the
need to serve a tenant default notice or any of the requirements relating to the
contents of the notice.
MAKING A TERMINATION CLAIM (2): THE PROCESS OF THE COURT
2.21 Although in every case the landlord’s claim will be for a termination order, the
landlord may be content with some other order that deals effectively with the
tenant default. A range of orders is available once the court is satisfied that the
relevant tenant default has in fact occurred. Indeed, the landlord may indicate in
his or her statement of case that he or she would be content with some other
order under the scheme. A termination claim may (and often will) include a claim
for possession of the premises after the tenancy has been terminated.
Discretion of the court
2.22 Once the court is satisfied that the relevant tenant default has occurred, it may
make such order as it thinks would be appropriate and proportionate in the
circumstances. In arriving at this decision, the court is required to take into
account a number of considerations:
(1) the conduct of the landlord and the tenant and, where there is an
application by a person with a qualifying interest in the tenancy, of that
person;
(2) the nature and terms of any qualifying interest in the tenancy and the
circumstances in which it was granted;
(3) the extent to which action to remedy the default can be taken or has
been taken;
(4) the extent to which any deadline specified in the tenant default notice for
remedial action by the tenant is reasonable;
(5) the extent to which the tenant has complied, or would be likely to comply,
with any remedial order made in respect of the default;
(6) any other remedy available to the landlord in respect of the default; and
(7) any other matter which the court thinks relevant.
2.23 The statutory scheme does not limit the range of orders that the court may make,
but it introduces six orders in particular. When making any order under the
scheme, the court may impose conditions, for example, that the applicant pay the
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