Within a commercial lease agreement there will usually be a clause referring to the forfeiture of the lease. The forfeiture of the lease allows for the immediate termination of the lease when a breach of the agreement has been undertaken by the tenant. The clause within the lease can provide further detailed information as to what amounts to a breach and when a forfeiture can be undertaken including whether a period of notice is required. It is always advisable that a landlord seeks independent legal advice before undertaking a forfeiture of the lease, to ensure that the breach by the tenant is accountable and that the enforcement action is valid.

On instructing the Landlord and Tenant Group, one of our dedicated enforcement agents will be allocated to your case and will communicate with you directly throughout the process.

The enforcement agent will request any further details from you that they require in respect of the commercial premises and the tenant and will arrange a time that is convenient to you to forfeit the lease and peacefully re-enter the premises.

We will instruct a locksmith to attend the premises with the enforcement agent to remove the existing locks and replace the same to ensure that the tenant can no longer gain access, whilst maintaining the security of the premises. Relevant notices will be displayed in accordance with regulations to the premises so that they are noticeable to the tenant on their immediate return to the premises following the lease forfeiture.
If required, our enforcement agent is able to take photographs of the premises, the new locks and the display notices to keep as a record should the tenant raise a dispute at a later date. Further, our enforcement agent can undertake a full inventory of the goods at the premises.

Once the premises has been secured, the keys to the new locks will be delivered to you or an allocated agent at your request.

Should you require our enforcement agent to issue a Legal Torts Notice, the same can be drafted and displayed at the time of the forfeiture of the lease. A Legal Torts Notice provides information to your tenant and any third party with a claim to the ownership of the goods inside the premises that they have an allocated time period to remove the goods from the premises (usually 7 to 14 days).

Should you require supervised access for the tenant or any third party to enter the premises to collect their goods, we can arrange this on your behalf and can liaise directly with any third parties in respect of their claims to the goods.

Should any person with a claim to ownership of the goods fail to respond and/or comply with the notice, you have the right to dispose of or sell the goods. Any money from the sale can be offset against the disposal of the goods. The tenant can also be held liable for the costs of the disposal and/or sale of the goods dependent on the terms of the lease.