Moving to new premises is expensive and disruptive for a
business. This prompts many tenants to renew their leases when they
expire.
If a tenant is deciding whether to stay or go, and the landlord
isn't exactly bothered by other prospective tenants, it can be
convenient for both parties to let the tenant's occupation
drift on in the short term. A property lawyer would call this
"holding over". It's a pragmatic approach, but
tenants should be aware of the risks.
As a first step, it's critical to find out whether the lease
in question has security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant
Act 1954.
The recent case of Barclays Wealth Trustees (Jersey) Limited
v Erimus Housing Limited [2014] EWHC Civ 303 is relevant if
you don't have security of tenure. After a
lease ended the parties conducted on/off lease negotiations for
over two years while the tenant stayed in the building. Shortly
after heads of terms were agreed, the tenant decided it really
needed somewhere
