Termination of a lease

A reader asks whether the new Housing Laws relating to leaseholds have introduced the possibility that a landlord may terminate a lease on the expiry of its term of duration and evict the tenant by simply giving prior notice.

The law to which the reader is referring is the Housing Laws Amendment Act 1995. Once the Act came into force, the provisions of the Reletting of Urban Property (Regulation) Ordinance, of the Rent Restriction (Dwelling House) Ordinance and of the Housing (Decontrol) Ordinance no longer apply to leaseholds entered into on or after June 1, 1995.

However, the renewal of a lease on or after June 1, 1995 (whether such renewal be conventional, legal, customary or otherwise) is not deemed to be a lease entered into on or after that date. This definition will, in fact, protect both those leaseholds which are running their course or which are in the reletting stage of the lease. Thus, a lease entered into before June 1, 1995, which shall be renewed after this date shall be regulated by the old laws and the new enactment is not applicable to such a leasehold.

On the other hand, leaseholds entered into on or after June 1, 1995 are now regulated under the general principles of civil law, that is by the provisions of the Civil Code. This means that, the lease shall cease ipso jure on the expiration of the term expressly agreed upon between the parties to the lease.

It is not necessary for the landlord or the tenant to give prior notice of termination to one another. If the duration of the lease is presumed in terms of law, the leasehold shall not cease on the expiration of the term unless either the landlord or the tenant gives prior notice to the other at least one month before, if the lease has a presumed duration of one year, or 15 days before if the presumed duration is for less than one year. Therefore, much depends upon whether the period is a specified one agreed upon by the parties or if it is presumed in terms of the law.

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