Opposed lease renewal: the section 30 grounds and what they cost

The grounds are a closed list

Section 30(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 sets out the grounds on which a landlord may oppose the grant of a new tenancy, and they may be relied on only if stated in the landlord's section 25 notice or in the counter notice under section 26(6) (legislation.gov.uk). A landlord who dislikes the tenant, or who has simply had a better offer, is not thereby entitled to oppose. The reason has to be one of the listed ones, and it has to have been stated at the right time.

What the grounds cover

Grounds (a), (b) and (c): the tenant's conduct

The state of repair resulting from the tenant's failure to comply with repairing obligations, persistent delay in paying rent, and other substantial breaches or any other reason connected with the tenant's use or management of the holding. All three are discretionary in the sense that the question is whether the tenant ought not to be granted a new tenancy in view of them.

Ground (d): suitable alternative accommodation

The landlord has offered and is willing to provide or secure alternative accommodation on reasonable terms, suitable for the tenant's requirements including the preservation of goodwill.

Ground (e): sub-letting of part

Where the tenancy was created by sub-letting part only of a larger property and the aggregate rents on separate lettings would be substantially less than the rent obtainable on a letting of the whole.

Ground (f): redevelopment

The landlord intends to demolish or reconstruct the premises or a substantial part of them, or to carry out substantial work of construction, and could not reasonably do so without obtaining possession. Intention has to be proved, and this is among the most heavily litigated provisions in the Act.

Ground (g): own occupation

The landlord intends to occupy the holding for their own business or as a residence. Statutory conditions attach to it, including in relation to how recently the landlord acquired their interest.

Why opposition is the biggest single step in cost

• The issue becomes evidential. Intention under ground (f) or (g) is proved with documents, plans, funding evidence and witness evidence, not with correspondence.
• Counsel and experts appear. Both are additional to the solicitor's fee, and both are engaged well before any hearing.
• Costs risk attaches. In contested proceedings the losing party is generally exposed to the other side's costs as well as their own, which is a different kind of exposure from a fee estimate.
• Compensation may be in issue. Where a new tenancy is refused on certain grounds the tenant may be entitled to compensation, which becomes part of the commercial calculation on both sides.
• Timescales lengthen, and on a trading property time itself has a cost that dwarfs the professional fees.

The commercial question underneath

Because opposition is expensive and the grounds are narrow, opposed renewals frequently settle: on a shorter term, on a break clause aligned to the landlord's plans, on a relocation, or on agreed compensation. The most useful early piece of work is usually an assessment of whether the stated ground can actually be made out, because that assessment shapes every settlement discussion that follows. Ask for it as a discrete piece of work with its own fee.

This is a general description of section 30(1) grounds as shown on legislation.gov.uk on 14 August 2026, not advice. Whether a ground is available on your facts, and what compensation may follow, are matters for a solicitor instructed on your renewal.