Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (the 1954 Act), a tenant has a statutory right to renew its tenancy at the end of the term of the lease. If the tenant is in occupation for its business purposes when the lease expires, the lease automatically continues on the same terms until it is terminated in one of the ways the 1954 Act permits.
The parties can agree to exclude this protection. To do so, the tenant makes either a simple declaration or a statutory declaration, confirming that it is aware it will not have the benefit of its 1954 Act rights and that it wishes to enter into the lease regardless.
Contracting out on Aqqord
If you choose to contract out of the 1954 Act, your answer generates the necessary notice and the simple or statutory declaration.
Provided the procedure is followed correctly, the tenant will not have an automatic right to a new tenancy, and any new lease is a matter for negotiation between landlord and tenant.
Two ways to make the declaration
Statutory declaration
The tenant prints the declaration and attends a solicitor, who charges £5 for administering it. You then upload the statutory declaration and can complete the lease straight away.
£5 solicitor’s fee
Complete straight away
Simple declaration
You cannot complete the lease until 14 days after the simple declaration is made. If the tenant is given access to the premises during those 14 days, it is under a tenancy at will, which Aqqord generates automatically. Once the 14 days have passed, you can complete the full lease.