Forfeiture of Lease Leads to Trading Commercial Premises Repossessed and Secured in London

The Situation

A landlord needed to recover possession of a ground floor commercial unit with a rear yard in London. The lease had come to an end and the landlord was entitled to re-enter, but the premises were not empty – the occupying business was still using them day to day. That made the timing and the execution of the re-entry critical.

Recovering a commercial property in these circumstances leaves no room for improvisation. Peaceable re-entry has to be carried out without confrontation, without damage, and at a point when the premises are unoccupied – otherwise the landlord risks the re-entry being challenged and the property being reoccupied. A shuttered shopfront on a busy road added a practical complication: entry needed to be gained cleanly and the unit resecured to a standard that would hold.

After searching for forfeiture of lease specialists in London, the client contacted Strikes Property Services Group.

Our Approach

Our enforcement agent attended site at 4.50am, timed deliberately for the quietest part of the morning – hours before the business would have opened and before there was any footfall on the street. A locksmith was booked to attend at the same time, so the operation could be completed in one visit rather than returning once access had been assessed.

Entry was gained through the shuttered front door with the locksmith working alongside our agent. Once inside, the first task was a full sweep of the premises to identify every other point of access. Our agent found a single fire door leading to the rear yard, already bolted top and bottom and locked with the key left in place. Because it was secure, that lock was left as it was – there was no need to change working ironmongery, and no reason to add cost the landlord didn’t need to bear.

The front euro cylinder and the shutter lock were both replaced, giving the landlord sole control of the unit. Our agent then walked the property in full, recording its condition in photographs – the trading floor, the offices, the rear storage room, the kitchen and the WC – and located and read the electric meter in a cupboard off the toilet area, so the landlord had a documented utility position from the moment possession passed. Forfeiture notices were attached internally to the glass door and externally to the shutter, making the landlord’s position visible to anyone attending the premises. Our commercial locksmith services and the enforcement attendance were delivered together as a single job.

No one was present at the property, no third parties were engaged, and there was no need to involve the police. No damage was caused beyond the lock changes required to secure the unit.

Outcome

Our agent cleared site at 5.20am – 30 minutes from arrival to completion. The landlord had vacant possession of the shop and rear yard, a fully resecured unit, a photographic record of its condition and contents, a meter reading, and notices displayed on site. Keys were forwarded to the address the landlord had nominated.

The case was managed by Karen Pates (Enforcement Agent), with oversight from Chris Bane (Managing Director) and Janet Morris, ensuring the re-entry was completed lawfully, without confrontation, and to a standard that left the landlord’s position on the property secure.