REALWorld Law

Commercial leases

Security of tenure

Does a tenant have a right to continue to occupy the relevant real estate after the expiry of a commercial lease?

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

The right to continue with a lease will be governed by the lease agreement entered into between the parties. If the lease agreement does not make provision for the tenant to occupy the property after expiration of the lease, then the tenant has no lawful right to do so. Should the tenant continue to occupy the premises unlawfully, then the landlord will have to pursue the process for eviction. In the interim, the statute dictated that the unlawful tenant would be regarded as a statutory tenant in terms of the Commercial Premises Lease Control Act Rent Regulations, provided that he continued to pay the rental due within seven days of the due date and performs in terms of the conditions of the lease. Whilst being a statutory tenant, the lessee would be entitled to retain possession of the commercial premises and benefit from all the terms and conditions.  Protection of statutory tenants was however challenged in terms of a landmark ruling which was handed down by the High Court on 8 February 2023, in terms of which sections 22 and 23 of the Commercial Premises (Rent) Regulations, 1983, were declared unlawful and unfair in the matter of Elnour United Engineering Group (Private) Limited versus Minister of Industry and Commerce N.O. and the Commercial and Industrial Rent Board Harare (HC 333/21). The Court found that the sections in question unfairly limited the powers of a court in ordering eviction and unduly restricted the lessor’s rights to terminate occupancy or seek eviction and possession of the premises after expiry of a lease.