Can Landlord Forfeit Lease for Deliberate Breach of Covenant?
Tenants who violate the terms of their leases can be forced to move. In one case, commercial tenants who sublet part of their premises to a Chinese restaurant without their landlord’s permission had their lease forfeited and were given six months to sell up and leave.
The tenants held a long lease in respect of a parade of shops with residential flats above them. The lease, which had been bought at a premium, yielded rack rent from sub-tenants of £133,000 a year and thus had considerable value.