ABSTRACT
The operation of security of tenure in relation to a protected tenancy is that, once a contractual protected tenancy, whether fixed term or periodic, has been terminated, a statutory tenancy will automatically take its place. A landlord cannot terminate a statutory tenancy with a view to obtaining possession except by court order, which will not be granted unless the landlord is able to prove one or more specified grounds. Therefore, a landlord who wishes to obtain possession of premises which are subject to a contractual protected tenancy must first terminate the contractual protected tenancy and then seek to terminate the statutory tenancy by commencing court proceedings, relying on one or more of the specified grounds. Occasionally, the 1977 Rent Act refers to contractual protected and statutory tenancies collectively, in which case, the term ‘regulated tenancies’ is used to describe the two together.
