Form 3 - New Section 26 request

Your lease is due to end in the near future and you’d like to be able stay on in your current premises. Use our notice to make an official request to your landlord for this to happen.

Advice

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (“the Act”) it’s perfectly possibly for a tenant to request a new lease from their landlord. This can be done by serving a Section 26 Notice on your landlord. You’re only allowed to do this if your lease is for a fixed period of time and exceeds twelve months.

When?

Check the date when your existing lease is due to end because your request can be made any time between twelve and six months before the tenancy expires.

Note. If your landlord has already sent you a Section 25 Notice, you can’t serve a Section 26 Notice in retaliation!

Tip

In order to conclude a new lease without having to go to court, you must set out your proposals in the form e.g. how long you’re looking for and the sort of rent you’re prepared to pay. Therefore, before serving your notice, take advice from a valuer to try and ascertain what sort of rent you can expect to pay. Although you’re not bound by your proposals, putting in a frivolous figure for rent could be counter-productive because the court may later view this as unhelpful and penalise you in costs.

How do we serve the notice?

By any of the following methods:

1. Personal service.
2. Leaving it at the landlord’s last known address.
3. Where the landlord’s either a limited company or limited liability partnership, leaving the notice at their registered office or sending it there by post.
4. Sending it to the landlord’s last known address by signed-for delivery.

What next?

After serving your notice, the ball is then in the landlord’s court. If they do nothing, they can’t subsequently oppose your request, they can only contest the terms that you’re asking for. Alternatively, if they want to challenge your request for a new lease, they must serve a counter-notice on you to this effect. Either way, if nothing can be agreed, then either you or the landlord can apply to the county court for your request to be dealt with.