Forfeiture: a practical overview

An overview of the key legal and practical issues which arise where a landlord takes steps to forfeit a lease, including waiver of the right to forfeit and the right to apply for relief from forfeiture.

For detailed information on the court procedure for forfeiture and relief from forfeiture, see Practice notes, CPR 55 procedure for possession of commercial property and CPR 55 procedure for possession of residential property.

Note updated 26 March 2022: This resource should be read in light of the temporary pandemic-related measures that protected tenants and restricted landlords' enforcement options in the period from March 2020 to the end of March 2022, as set out in our Practice note, COVID-19: Coronavirus Act 2020 and the implications for recovering possession, and those that may affect commercial landlords and tenants on and after 26 March 2022, as set out in our Practice note, COVID-19: Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022: rent arbitration and the implications for enforcement.