When you’re a commercial landlord there are times when you need to consider how to evict a commercial tenant. If they’ve breached the terms of their lease this can be achieved quickly and legally.
There can be a number of reasons why you would want to repossess your property. This is typically down to the tenant breaching the terms of their lease, such as the non-payment of rent or illegal subletting.
If you have a commercial tenant who isn’t paying their rent then a commercial lease forfeit could be the best approach.
How do you evict a commercial tenant?
The process of taking back possession of a commercial property is called a forfeiture of lease. For this to be applicable, there needs to be a clause in the lease that allows for forfeiture to take place. If you’re unsure if there is a specific clause, we can check through the lease before acting on your behalf.
When you’re drawing up new commercial leases, it’s beneficial to have such a clause written into it. Otherwise, your ability to evict the commercial tenant could be severely limited.
When you can evict a commercial tenant
There are a number of reasons why you can repossess a commercial property. The method of repossession will depend on how the lease has been breached.
Where a commercial tenant hasn’t paid their rent, you don’t have to give any notice before forfeiting the lease. You are allowed to peaceably re-enter the property and leave notices on the door.
Following the coronavirus lockdowns, there are protected periods of rent for certain industries. For rent arrears built up during these periods, lease forfeitures cannot take place. Instead, the landlord and tenant should go through an arbitration period to agree on a repayment plan. However, if there are also rent arrears that have accumulated outside of these periods, the landlord can still forfeit the lease.
Lease forfeits
The quickest way to evict a commercial tenant is to carry out a peaceable re-entry under a lease forfeit. We will organise for a bailiff and locksmith to attend at the property (generally out of business hours), enter the premises, change the locks and display the relevant notices. This is a legal way to evict a commercial tenant and take back possession of the property.
There are some pitfalls to carrying out a lease forfeit. The tenant could apply for ‘relief from forfeiture’ and take back possession of the property. However, this is typically the most effective approach if you want to re-possess a commercial property.
An alternative to a commercial forfeiture of lease is to apply for a possession order through the courts. This can be more time consuming and costly and is only really used as the last resort.
Help to evict a commercial tenant
If you’re considering a lease forfeit on a commercial tenant, we will carry out all the work on your behalf: from the initial checks to ensure the relevant clause is in the lease, through to taking back possession of the premises. Contact CEA Ltd today to discuss your requirements with our commercial property team.