Section 21: Pub-owning business and tied-pub tenant
51.This section states that, for the purposes of the Act, a pub-owning business is any business which leases a tied pub. (In this respect, the Act differs from the equivalent legislation in England and Wales, which, as of the time of Royal Assent of this Act, applies only to businesses that own 500 or more tied pubs.) The section also confirms that references in the Act to a “pub-owning business” and “tied-pub tenant” includes both current and former businesses and tenants, which will allow any disputes to be considered by the adjudicator following the end of a lease.