Section 23 Tenancies to which Part II applies.

England and Wales

(1)

Subject to the provisions of this Act, this Part of this Act applies to any tenancy where the property comprised in the tenancy is or includes premises which are occupied by the tenant and are so occupied for the purposes of a business carried on by him or for those and other purposes.

F1(1A)

Occupation or the carrying on of a business—

(a)

by a company in which the tenant has a controlling interest; or

(b)

where the tenant is a company, by a person with a controlling interest in the company,

shall be treated for the purposes of this section as equivalent to occupation or, as the case may be, the carrying on of a business by the tenant.

(1B)

Accordingly references (however expressed) in this Part of this Act to the business of, or to use, occupation or enjoyment by, the tenant shall be construed as including references to the business of, or to use, occupation or enjoyment by, a company falling within subsection (1A)(a) above or a person falling within subsection (1A)(b) above.

(2)

In this Part of this Act the expression “business” includes a trade, profession or employment and includes any activity carried on by a body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate.

(3)

In the following provisions of this Part of this Act the expression “the holding”, in relation to a tenancy to which this Part of this Act applies, means the property comprised in the tenancy, there being excluded any part thereof which is occupied neither by the tenant nor by a person employed by the tenant and so employed for the purposes of a business by reason of which the tenancy is one to which this Part of this Act applies.

(4)

F2Subject to subsection (5), where the tenant is carrying on a business, in all or any part of the property comprised in a tenancy, in breach of a prohibition (however expressed) of use for business purposes which subsists under the terms of the tenancy and extends to the whole of that property, this Part of this Act shall not apply to the tenancy unless the immediate landlord or his predecessor in title has consented to the breach or the immediate landlord has acquiesced therein.

In this subsection the reference to a prohibition of use for business purposes does not include a prohibition of use for the purposes of a specified business, or of use for purposes of any but a specified business, but save as aforesaid includes a prohibition of use for the purposes of some one or more only of the classes of business specified in the definition of that expression in subsection (2) of this section.

F3(5)

Where the tenant's breach of a prohibition (however expressed) of use for business purposes which subsists under the terms of the tenancy and extends to the whole of that property consists solely of carrying on a home business, this Part of this Act does not apply to the tenancy, even if the immediate landlord or the immediate landlord's predecessor in title has consented to the breach or the immediate landlord has acquiesced in the breach.

(6)

In subsection (5) “ home business ” has the same meaning as in section 43ZA.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: S. 23(1A)(1B) inserted (1.6.2004) by Regulatory Reform (Business Tenancies) (England and Wales) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/3096), arts. 1(3), 13
F2: Words in s. 23(4) inserted (1.10.2015) by Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (c. 26), ss. 35(2), 164(1) (with s. 35(5)); S.I. 2015/1689, reg. 2(b); S.I. 2015/1710, reg. 2(a)
F3: S. 23(5)(6) inserted (1.10.2015) by Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (c. 26), ss. 35(3), 164(1) (with s. 35(5)); S.I. 2015/1689, reg. 2(b); S.I. 2015/1710, reg. 2(a)

Notes on Part II

Modifications

C1

Pt. 2 restricted by 1983 No. 1, s. 56(2G)(b) (as inserted (1.1.2007) by Pastoral (Amendment) Measure 2006 (No. 2), ss. 1(b), 2(2); 2006 No. 3, Instrument made by Archbishops)

C2

Pt. 2 excluded (20.3.2015) by Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (c. 2), s. 95(1), Sch. 10 para. 3(1)(a); S.I. 2015/778, art. 2(1)(d)

C3

Pt. 2 excluded (15.3.2018) by City of London Corporation (Open Spaces) Act 2018 (c. i), s. 6(7) (with ss. 3, 4(2))

C4

Pt. 2 excluded (coming into force in accordance with s. 13 of the amending Act) by Monken Hadley Common Act 2022 (c. ii), s. 9(5) (with s. 8(3))

C5

Pt. 2 excluded (24.11.2025) by General Cemetery Act 2025 (c. ii), ss. 1(2), 11(2) (with s. 11(3))

C6

Pt. 2 modified (30.7.2026) by The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 (Conferral of Tribunal Jurisdiction under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 etc.) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/569), regs. 1(2), 3 (with reg. 4)

C7

Pt. 2 amended by Opencast Coal Act 1958 (c. 69), s. 37, Sch. 7 paras. 10, 20; excluded by Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (c. 88), s. 16(1)(c)(d) and Rent Act 1977 (c. 42), s. 24(2), Sch. 1 paras. 8, 9

C8

Pt. 2 (ss. 23–46) excluded (prosp.) by Transport Act 1982 (c. 49, SIF 107:1), ss. 14(1), 76(2)

C9

Pt. 2 (ss. 23–46) excluded by Dockyard Services Act 1986 (c. 52, SIF 58), s. 3(2)

C10

Pt. 2 (ss. 23–46) excluded by Housing Act 1988 (c. 50, SIF 61), s. 101(2)

C11

Pt. 2 (ss. 23–46) restricted by City of London (Spitalfields Market) Act 1990 (c. ix), s. 5(4)

C12

Pt. 2 (ss. 23-46) excluded by Atomic Weapons Establishment Act 1991 (c. 46, SIF 8), ss. 3(1), 6(2), Sch. para. 3

Pt. 2 (ss. 23-46) excluded (1.11.1993) by 1993 c. 28, s. 59(2)(b)(ii); S.I. 1993/2134, art. 5

Pt. 2 (ss. 23-46) excluded: (1.4.1994) by 1993 c. 43, s. 31(1) and S.I. 1994/571, art. 5; (3.11.1994) by 1994 c. 33, s. 7(3)(a); (3.11.1994) by 1991 c. 53, s. 84 (as substituted (3.11.1994) by 1994 c. 33, s. 96); (1.10.1996) by 1996 c. 46, s. 30(7)(11) and S.I. 1996/2474, art. 2

Pt. 2 (ss. 23-46) excluded (1.8.2000) by 1999 c. 33, s. 149(3)(a); S.I. 2000/1985, art. 2, Sch.