Business Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 1964

10 Opposition by landlord to application for new tenancy. N.I.

(1) The grounds on which a landlord may oppose an application made under section 8 to the Lands Tribunal for a new tenancy are such of the following grounds as may be stated in the landlord's notice to determine under section 4, or as the case may be, in the landlord's notice under section 5(6), that is to say:—

(a) where under the current tenancy the tenant has any obligations as respects the repair and maintenance of the holding, that the tenant ought not to be granted a new tenancy in view of the state of repair of the holding, being a state resulting from the tenant's failure to comply with those obligations;

(b) that the tenant ought not to be granted a new tenancy in view of his persistent delay in paying rent which has become due;

(c) that the tenant ought not to be granted a new tenancy in view of other substantial breaches by him of his obligations under the current tenancy, or for any other reason connected with the tenant's use or management of the holding;

(d) that the landlord has offered and is willing to provide or secure the provision of alternative accommodation for the tenant, and—

(i) that the terms on which the alternative accommodation is available are reasonable having regard to the terms of the current tenancy and to all other relevant circumstances; and

(ii) that the accommodation and the time at which it will be available are suitable for the tenant's requirements (including the requirement to preserve goodwill) having regard to the nature and class of his business and to the situation and extent of, and facilities afforded by, the holding;

(e) where the current tenancy was created by the subletting of part only of the property comprised in a superior tenancy and the landlord is the owner of an estate in reversion expectant on the termination of that superior tenancy, that the aggregate of the rents reasonably obtainable on separate lettings of the holding and the remainder of that property would be substantially less than the rent reasonably obtainable on a letting of that property as a whole, that on the termination of the current tenancy the landlord requires possession of the holding for the purpose of letting or otherwise disposing of the said property as a whole, and that in view thereof the tenant ought not to be granted a new tenancy;

(f) that on the termination of the current tenancy the landlord intends—

(i) to demolish or rebuild the premises comprised in the holding or a substantial part of those premises; or

(ii) to carry out substantial works of construction on the holding or part thereof;

and that the landlord could not reasonably do so without obtaining possession of the holding;

(g) subject to subsection (3), that on the termination of the current tenancy the landlord intends that the holding will be occupied for a reasonable period for the purposes, or partly for the purposes, of a business to be carried on by him or by a company in which he has a controlling interest, or as his residence.

(2) Where the landlord opposes an application on the ground specified in subsection (1)( f) the Lands Tribunal may require the landlord to furnish evidence that planning permission required under any enactment has been granted to him in respect of the works which he intends to undertake.

(3) The landlord shall not be entitled to oppose an application on the ground specified in subsection (1)( g) if the estate of the landlord, or an estate which has merged in that estate and but for the merger would be the estate of the landlord, was purchased or created after the beginning of the period of five years which ends with the termination of the current tenancy, and at all times since the purchase or creation thereof the holding has been comprised in a tenancy or successive tenancies of the description specified in section 1(1).

(4) For the purposes of subsection (1)( g) the landlord shall be deemed to have a controlling interest in a company if he has the power to secure, by means of the holding of shares or the possession of voting power in or in relation to the company, or by virtue of any powers conferred by the articles of association or other document regulating that company, that the affairs of the company are conducted in accordance with his wishes.