Where premises are let partly for residential and partly for business purposes and the tenant resides in the residential part the landlord will not be entitled to evict the tenant from the premises (including the commercial part) unless he complies with Section 2 of the Eviction Act 1977 - i.e. the more stringent requirements for re-entry of residential premises apply to the commercial premises too.
Section 2 provides that any right of re-entry or forfeiture will not be lawful other than by way of court proceedings. This requirement is more onerous than the requirements of section 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925 which landlords of commercial premises are generally familiar with and where landlords can basically forfeit by written notice (or even without notice for non payment of rent).
The section 2 provision will typically capture landlords who let shops or public houses with flats above them where the flats are occupied by the retailer or publican. Such landlords should be mindful of the need to make an application to court where it is considering re-entry.
Law: Pirabakaran v Patel
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The original publication date for this article was 02/08/2006.