Section 26 request: how a tenant asks for a new business tenancy

Who can serve a section 26 request?

A section 26 request is how a business tenant asks the landlord for a new tenancy when the current one ends. It applies to a tenancy granted for a term of years certain exceeding one year (section 26(1)). Some business tenancies are outside Part II of the Act altogether, including a fixed term of six months or less, unless the lease has a renewal provision or the tenant has been in occupation for more than twelve months (section 43(3)).

The request must be in the prescribed form (Form 3 in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (Part 2) (Notices) Regulations 2004, SI 2004/1005) and must set out the tenant’s proposals for the property to be included in the new tenancy (section 26(3)). It cannot be made once the landlord has already given a section 25notice to end the tenancy, or once the tenant has already given a notice to quit or a section 27 notice (section 26(4)).

Tenancies granted under a contract made under section 204 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 are excluded from sections 24 to 28 of the 1954 Act (section 209 of that Act, in force from 2 December 2024).

When can you serve one? The six to twelve month window

The new tenancy must begin not less than six months and not more than twelve months after the request is made (section 26(2)). The start date also cannot be earlier than the date the current tenancy would otherwise end (section 26(2)). Those limits fix the timetable, so check them against your lease’s expiry date before you serve.

What are the key dates?

The new tenancy must start between six and twelve months after the request (section 26(2)), the landlord has two months to serve a counter-notice (section 26(6)), and a court application must be made before the start date in the request (section 29A(2)(b)). The dates below are an example of how those rules apply.

Worked example (illustrative dates, not a real lease). The request is served on 1 June 2027 and the current lease ends on or after 1 March 2028. The request names 1 March 2028 as the start of the new tenancy.

How a deadline is counted depends on the exact wording and the day it starts, so ask a solicitor to confirm every date against your lease rather than relying on this example.

What does the request do to your current lease?

Once a valid request is made, the current tenancy ends immediately before the date the request specifies for the new tenancy to begin (section 26(5)). If you miss the court deadline, you lose the right to a new tenancy and the tenancy ends on that date. If a court application is made in time, the tenancy continues until three months after the application is finally disposed of (section 64).

What if the landlord opposes the request?

The landlord can oppose the request by giving a counter-notice within two months of the request. The notice must say which ground or grounds in section 30 of the Act the landlord will rely on (section 26(6)). If it serves one, the court decides whether the ground is made out. A landlord who does not serve a counter-notice within the two months cannot oppose the application (section 26(6)).

The two-month wait before a court application does not apply once the landlord has served a counter-notice (section 29A(3)).

What are the court deadlines (sections 29A and 29B)?

A tenant cannot apply to court until two months after the request has been made, unless the landlord has already served a counter-notice (section 29A(3)). The application must be made before the statutory period ends. For a tenant’s request, that period ends immediately before the date the request specifies (section 29A(2)(b)).

The landlord and tenant can agree to a later deadline. The agreement must be made before the statutory period ends, and it can be extended again by a further agreement made before the current deadline runs out (section 29B(1) and (2)).

What is interim rent (section 24A)?

Once a section 25 notice or a section 26 request has been made, either side can apply to the court to set the rent the tenant pays while the tenancy continues under section 24 (section 24A(1)). The court can order an interim rent under section 24C or 24D.

An application cannot be entertained if it is made more than six months after the termination of the relevant tenancy (section 24A(3)). Neither side can apply if the other has already applied and has not withdrawn the application (section 24A(2)).