Can Landlords Refuse to Renew Lease In the UK?

Living or operating a business on premises you do not own requires you to have an active lease. You should start weighing your lease options 12 to 24 months before your current lease expires. The period allows you to apply for a renewal from your landlord, get feedback, and take the necessary steps.

You can opt to ignore lease renewal, and your tenancy will become a periodic tenancy, giving your landlord two months to decide whether they will retain you or not. The landlords are not obliged to renew your lease and can either accept or refuse to renew it.

Lease and tenancy regulations might be complex for you to understand. DoNotPay breaks down the information, making it easy for you to understand whether your . Sign up today and utilize our Landlord Protection product for more information.

Basic Lease Laws in The UK

When leasing a property it is important you know the basic lease laws in the UK. Whether it was an oral agreement or a written one, the lease between you and your landlord falls into two categories.

Fixed-Term	Meaning the lease is for a specific amount of time, usually one-year
Periodic	Meaning the lease is renewed bi-annually quarterly, month-to-month or week-to-week

Rights and Responsibilities of a Tenant Regarding Lease Renewal

Tenants are primarily classified into two groups; those protected by the security of tenure provisions in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (the Act) and those excluded from the benefits. You should find out which group you belong to before your lease expires or take any action.

Whether the Act covers you or not, here are actions points you should take regarding your lease:

Check the expiry date of your lease
Check whether you are secured by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 or not
Consider your lease renewal strategy at least 12 months before the expiry date

Lease renewals are often tactical, and you should be aware of your rights, responsibilities and possible outcomes before renewing your lease. Here are the general lease renewal guidelines:

You can vacate your premises and seek a new lease before your lease expires, but you need to serve your landlord with a notice at least three months before moving out.
Your landlord can initiate the lease renewal process if there is a major shift in leasing factors such as an increase in rent or wants to change the terms of the lease legally.
You must serve a request for a new lease agreement to your landlord if you decide to renew your lease.
You have the option of periodic tenancy between the lease expiry and the signing of the new lease, where you stay on the premises on a short term agreement.
The landlord has two months to review the new lease terms and might accept or reject your renewal application.
You can protect the security of tenure by issuing proceedings at court for a new lease or agree with the terms dictated by the landlord.
You can change your mind, pull out of the lease renewal process, and send a tenant's notice to end the tenancy so long as there is a three months window before the lease expires.
Whether protected by the Act or not, your landlord has the right to reject your lease renewal application on statutory grounds.

Is My Landlord Obliged to Renewing My Lease?

Most tenants have the right to renew their leases upon expiry, but . The landlord can refuse to renew your lease without any consequence under the following conditions:

If you are in breach of your tenant obligations.
The landlord wants to use the premises for their personal gain.
The landlord has other suitable premises for you.
You are occupying part of a premise that your landlord wants to sell as a whole.
The landlord wishes to rebuild or demolish the premises.

You might also lack the automatic right of lease renewal if you are:

On fixed-term tenancy of 6 months or less
A farm business tenant
A mining tenant
A service tenant employed by the landlord
You waived your right to renew at the start of your lease

Your landlord is supposed to serve you a section 25 form indicating that you will be unable to renew your lease after expiry. Your tenancy will expire automatically on the set date if you fail to respond to the section 25 form.

You can dispute the section 25 form in court, requiring your landlord to prove that their reason for rejecting your lease renewal application is valid. Your landlord might be ordered to compensate you if the reason does not hold any significance.

Break Your Lease With the Help Of DoNotPay

Application for lease renewal does not guarantee that your landlord will renew your lease automatically. Similarly, you might need to cancel your lease before its expiry. Although legal, the process is often complicated.

DoNotPay understands your predicaments and has developed a product to help you break your lease in easy steps to follow. If you want to break a lease but don't know where to start, DoNotPay has you covered in 4 easy steps:

Search for and open the Landlord Protection product on DoNotPay.
Select which issue applies to you.
Answer a simple set of questions so our chatbot can collect the necessary information to create your demand letter.
Choose whether you want DoNotPay to send the demand letter to your landlord or roommate on your behalf. If you already tried sending a demand letter and it didn't work, we can help you start the small claims court process.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

DoNotPay is not limited to helping you understand whether your landlord can refuse to renew your lease. We have an endless library of resources. Here are examples of resources that can help you understand your tenancy journey:

Other services from DoNotPay include:

Join DoNotPay today to resolve disputes with your landlord efforltessly!