Module 4 · Chapter 9

The Break Clause, and Forfeiture

A break clause lets the tenant end its lease early, on one fixed day. Forfeiture lets the landlord end it because the tenant has broken it. Both work only if every step is right.

≈ 12 min read 8-question test

In this chapter

  • How Linnet's break works, and why it has only two conditions
  • How to give a break notice that counts
  • When a landlord may forfeit a lease, and why it rarely does

9.1The break in one paragraph

A break clause lets a party end a lease early, on a fixed day, by giving notice. Linnet's ten-year lease has a break at year five, and only Linnet may use it. The Break Date is also the Review Date, so if Linnet expects the review to raise the rent too far, it can leave instead. It must decide six months ahead, before the new rent is known.

Key point

A break opens on one day only, and only if every step is exact. If Linnet misses the day, or gets one step wrong, the lease runs its full ten years.

Also in this chapter

  1. What the break clause gives Linnet
  2. Why the break has two conditions, not twenty
  3. Vacant possession means an empty floor
  4. Giving a notice that counts
  5. A late notice is no notice
  6. Forfeiture: the landlord's way to end the lease
  7. What the law adds: notice, relief and waiver
  8. Your job

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