Challenging the validity of a break notice

Thomson Snell & Passmore acted for a client landlord of commercial premises in Kent. The tenant attempted to serve a break notice to bring its lease to an end. Knowing that the premises would be difficult to re-let and faced with the prospect of the tenant walking away, we were instructed to advise on the validity of the notice served by the tenant.

Many leases provide that break notices have to be served in a particular manner and strict time limits apply. If these steps are not followed, the party serving the notice risks serving an invalid notice meaning that a break date is missed. In turn, this means that the party wishes to terminate the lease has missed its opportunity to have matters in its own hands.

We advised the landlord that the break notice was invalid and outlined the landlord’s options as a consequence. As a result we were able to negotiate a significant premium for the client for agreeing a surrender of the tenancy that it would not have otherwise achieved had the notice been served properly.