Where the tenant is failing to pay the rent and any other sums due under a lease, there are a number of options the landlord can pursue to remedy the breach and recover payment:

• Forfeiture. Forfeiture brings the lease to an end. There is a strict procedure and various restrictions which apply. The possibility of forfeiture often persuades the tenant to remedy its breaches. However, forfeiture alone will not recover the sums due, and the landlord can find itself with a vacant property and a debt. In addition, if the Landlord wishes to go down this route it should ensure that it does not waive its right to forfeit the lease Waiver is a tricky concept but, essentially, waiver of the right to forfeit will occur where the landlord, with knowledge of the tenant's breach, performs an unequivocal act that recognises the lease as continuing to exist and communicates that act to the tenant.
• Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR). CRAR allows a landlord to instruct an enforcement agent to take control of a tenant's goods and sell them in order to recover an equivalent value to the rent arrears. CRAR is only exercisable against arrears of principal rent. If any of the arrears relate to service charges, insurance rent, or other sums due under the lease (even if those sums are reserved as rent), CRAR cannot be used to recover them.
• Court proceedings to recover debt. The process can be expensive and protracted. A court hearing may not be set for several months and the tenant may not feel any motivation to pay the arrears in this period.
• Draw down on rent deposit.
• Pursue guarantor or former tenant. A legal notice referred to as a “section 17 notice” must be served on the former tenant in order to demand the arrears and the notice must be served within 6 months of the arrears becoming due. The landlord should be aware that if a former tenant pays the arrears pursuant to the section 17 notice it is entitled to ask the landlord for an overriding lease. The landlord must consider whether it would want this party as a tenant.
• Statutory demand and insolvency proceedings. Where the tenant has failed to pay rent or other sums due under the lease, the landlord may wish to consider commencing insolvency proceedings. Where there is no dispute as to the amount of the debt, the landlord can serve a statutory demand on the tenant. If this remains unpaid after 21 days, and it is £5,000 or more in relation to a tenant who is an individual (£750 or more for commercial tenants), then this may be deemed evidence of inability to pay a debt and gives grounds to present a bankruptcy or winding up petition.
• Payment agreement. If the tenant needs time to pay the arrears, the landlord may consider entering into a payment agreement with the tenant requiring the tenant to pay the arrears in specified instalments. If the tenant is generally solvent and the arrears were an isolated incident, this may be a sensible way to proceed. It also preserves the landlord and tenant relationship.