Short title, commencement, extent of LTA 1985 s.40
LTA 1985 s. 40 states that the Act is called the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, takes effect on 1 April 1986, and extends only to England and Wales.
This Act may be cited as the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This Act comes into force on 1st April 1986. This Act extends to England and Wales.
Text in force at .
Source: legislation.gov.uk — The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk), reproduced under licence Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it actually says
This section gives the official name of the Act: the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
The Act came into force on 1st April 1986.
It applies only to England and Wales, not to Scotland or Northern Ireland.
When it applies
- A landlord in Wales needs to know if the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 applies to their tenancy.
- A tenant in Scotland is told the Act covers them and wants to check whether it does.
- A dispute about a tenancy that started on 31 March 1986 – one party argues the Act does not yet apply.
- Someone incorrectly refers to the Act as the 'Landlord and Tenant Act 1986' and the other person corrects them using this section.
What this section does not say
- It does not define any rights or obligations of landlords or tenants – those are in other sections of the Act.
- It does not set out any procedures for resolving disputes – those are found in sections like s.31b and s.31c.
- It does not affect tenancies that ended before 1 April 1986 (unless later amendments apply).
Related sections
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We copy this text from the official publisher and re-check it against that source on every page load, but we cannot guarantee it is complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for any reliance on it. An amendment can take effect before a consolidation catches up. The publisher's own copy is linked below; where the two differ, it is the official one that counts.
This page reproduces the text of LTA 1985 s. 40 in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in England and Wales.