One of the grounds for L being able to oppose the grant of a new tenancy to T is that there is a part sub-letting, with L requiring the whole property for reletting. This is ground (e) – s30(e) LTA 1954.


This is a discretionary ground for refusing to grant a renewal lease, and it is the least used of all the grounds (indeed, there are no reported cases on how the court’s discretion is to be exercised). It only applies where there is a sub-letting of part, and the ‘competent L’ of the sub-T is the superior L (ie it is not sub-T’s immediate L). In that situation, the intermediate lease will have less than 14 months to run. But, L must show two things: 


the rent obtainable on separate lettings of the whole building would be substantially less than the rent obtainable on letting the whole; and


on the termination of the sub-tenancy, L requires possession of the sub-let part to let (or otherwise dispose of the property as a whole). L may have difficulty in establishing this, unless the intermediate lease is due to end before the sub-tenancy is terminated (on the basis that he cannot re-let the whole if the intermediate T is still in occupation); however, if the headlease is excluded from the 1954 Act and is due to expire, then that will not be a problem.