Section 38 Restriction on agreements excluding provisions of Part II.F1
England and Wales
Any agreement relating to a tenancy to which this Part of this Act applies (whether contained in the instrument creating the tenancy or not) shall be void (except as provided by F2section 38A of this Act) in so far as it purports to preclude the tenant from making an application or request under this Part of this Act or provides for the termination or the surrender of the tenancy in the event of his making such an application or request or for the imposition of any penalty or disability on the tenant in that event.
Where—
during the whole of the five years immediately preceding the date on which the tenant under a tenancy to which this Part of this Act applies is to quit the holding, premises being or comprised in the holding have been occupied for the purposes of a business carried on by the occupier or for those and other purposes, and
if during those five years there was a change in the occupier of the premises, the person who was the occupier immediately after the change was the successor to the business carried on by the person who was the occupier immediately before the change,
any agreement (whether contained in the instrument creating the tenancy or not and whether made before or after the termination of that tenancy) which purports to exclude or reduce compensation under F3section 37 of this Act shall to that extent be void, so however that this subsection shall not affect any agreement as to the amount of any such compensation which is made after the right to compensation has accrued.
In a case not falling within the last foregoing subsection the right to compensation conferred by section 37 of this Act may be excluded or modified by agreement.
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Annotations
Textual amendments
- F1
S. 38 substituted by virtue of Law of Property Act 1969 (c. 59), s. 15, Sch. 1
- F2
Words in s. 38(1) substituted (1.6.2004) by Regulatory Reform (Business Tenancies) (England and Wales) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/3096), arts. 1(3), 21(1)
- F3
Words in s. 38(2)(3) substituted (1.6.2004) by Regulatory Reform (Business Tenancies) (England and Wales) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/3096), art. 1(3), Sch. 5 para. 4
- F4
S. 38(4) repealed (1.6.2004) by Regulatory Reform (Business Tenancies) (England and Wales) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/3096), arts. 1(3), 21(2), Sch. 6
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.