header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Ripe for reform

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
11 January 2007 / Stuart Bridge
Issue: 7255 / Categories: Features , Landlord&tenant , Property
printer mail-detail

The Law Commission wants to abolish the law of forfeiture for breach of covenant. Stuart Bridge explains why

In January 2004, the Law Commission’s (the commission’s) consultation paper, Termination of Tenancies for Tenant Default (Law Com No 174) (see 154 NLJ 7113, p 113), stated that the law of forfeiture was “complex…lacks coherence and…can lead to injustice”. It provisionally proposed that forfeiture should be replaced with a statutory scheme for the termination of tenancies. The scheme would make the law easier to understand, simpler to use, and would assist landlords and tenants to resolve disputes out of court. Responses to the consultation paper revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the current law and strong support for reform.

The commission has now published its final report (Law Com No 303) and the draft Landlord and Tenant (Termination of Tenancies) Bill. This article briefly sets out the main recommendations, which are largely of significance in relation to commercial tenancies and long residential tenancies.
Landlords will no longer be able to terminate a tenancy by using the law of

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
Read All
Public Accounts Committee warn of ‘extinction’ risk for legal aid
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
NLJ this week: The insider returns
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
NLJ this week: Drawing the line on contempt
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
NLJ this week: Stop and search by the numbers
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
NLJ this week: Looking back on the prorogation that never was
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll