The Business Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 1996

Opposition by landlord to new tenancy

12.—(1) The grounds on which a landlord may make a tenancy application, or may oppose a tenancy application by the tenant, are such of the following grounds as may be stated in the landlord’s notice to determine under Article 6, or as the case may be, in the landlord’s notice under Article 7(6)(b), 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 a building or structure which comprises, or forms a substantial part of, the holding and to undertake a substantial development of the holding; or

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

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

(g) subject to Article 13(4), that on the termination of the current tenancy the landlord intends that the holding will be occupied for a reasonable period—

(i) for the purposes, or partly for the purposes, of a business to be carried on in it by him or by a company in which he has a controlling interest; or

(ii) as his residence;

(h) subject to Article 13(4) and (5), that the landlord is a company and that on the termination of the current tenancy a person with a controlling interest in the company intends to occupy the holding for a reasonable period—

(i) for the purposes, or partly for the purposes, of a business to be carried on in it by him or by the company; or

(ii) as his residence;

(i) where there subsists in the premises comprised in the tenancy an estate acquired (whether before or after the commencement of this Order) by a public authority, that possession of the premises is reasonably necessary for the public authority to carry out its functions under any statutory provision or rule of law.

(2) In paragraph (1)(f) “development” has the same meaning as in the [1991 NI 11.] Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.