Industrial Premises Tenancies at Will and Licences
Listed below are a selection of Tenancy at Will and Licence Agreements for Industrial Premises.
Business premises are usually occupied under a lease. A lease is a formal arrangement whereby the Tenant has exclusive use of the premises for a specified term. Leases usually contain detailed provisions as to what a tenant must and must not do in order to protect the value of the Landlord’s reversionary interest in the premises.
Sometimes it is not appropriate to grant a lease. If the business is only going to occupy the premises for a short time (say, less than 6 months) or if the parties are in the process of negotiating a lease but the Tenant needs to occupy the premises immediately, the parties may wish to use a Tenancy at Will or a Licence.
A Tenancy at Will has no fixed term and can be terminated by either party at any time with immediate effect. It is therefore only suitable for very short term arrangements.
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Frequently Asked Questions
An occupier needs to use my industrial unit before the lease is signed, what can I use? +
Use a tenancy at will. It lets the occupier take possession while the lease is negotiated, and either party can end it at any time with no notice. Because it has no fixed term and ends on demand, it does not give the occupier security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. Treat it as a genuine bridge only: if occupation settles into a regular pattern of rent, a court may find a periodic tenancy has arisen, which can carry renewal rights.
What is the difference between a licence and a tenancy at will for industrial space? +
A tenancy at will has no fixed term and ends the instant either party asks for possession. A licence usually runs for a fixed term but gives only permission to occupy, not exclusive possession, so it creates no estate in land. Neither gives security of tenure. The trap is exclusive possession: if the occupier has exclusive use of a defined unit for a term at a rent, a court treats it as a lease whatever the document is called.
Can a licence stop my industrial occupier from acquiring the right to renew? +
Only if it is genuinely a licence. A licence avoids security of tenure because it is not an interest in land, but that holds only where the occupier lacks exclusive possession, for example shared or serviced storage. Grant exclusive possession of a self-contained unit for a term at a rent and the document is a lease whatever its title, so the tenant may gain security. Where you need certainty, grant a lease contracted out of the 1954 Act instead.
How quickly can I get my industrial unit back under a tenancy at will? +
At once. A tenancy at will can be ended by either party at any time, so you can call for possession without a notice period. That is the point of the document, but it works both ways: the occupier can also leave immediately, so neither side has any security. If you want a guaranteed minimum period, use a short lease or a fixed-term licence instead.
