Section 31 Dismissal of application for new tenancy where landlord successfully opposes.
England and Wales
If the landlord opposes an application under subsection (1) of section twenty-four of this Act on grounds on which he is entitled to oppose it in accordance with the last foregoing section and establishes any of those grounds to the satisfaction of the court, the court shall not make an order for the grant of a new tenancy.
F1Where the landlord opposes an application under section 24(1) of this Act, or makes an application under section 29(2) of this Act, on one or more of the grounds specified in section 30(1)(d) to (f) of this Act but establishes none of those grounds, and none of the other grounds specified in section 30(1) of this Act, to the satisfaction of the court, then if the court would have been satisfied on any of the grounds specified in section 30(1)(d) to (f) of this Act if the date of termination specified in the landlord’s notice or, as the case may be, the date specified in the tenant’s request for a new tenancy as the date from which the new tenancy is to begin, had been such later date as the court may determine, being a date not more than one year later than the date so specified,—
the court shall make a declaration to that effect, stating of which of the said grounds the court would have been satisfied as aforesaid and specifying the date determined by the court as aforesaid, but shall not make an order for the grant of a new tenancy;
if, within fourteen days after the making of the declaration, the tenant so requires the court shall make an order substituting the said date for the date specified in the said landlord’s notice or tenant’s request, and thereupon that notice or request shall have effect accordingly.
Annotations
Textual amendments
- F1
Words in s. 31(2) substituted (1.6.2004) by Regulatory Reform (Business Tenancies) (England and Wales) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/3096), arts. 1(3), 7
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.