Assignment and underletting

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Does the doctrine of unity of seisin apply as between two parcels of land held under one title (residential part and retained part) where—a owns the whole property and transfers the beneficial interest in the residential part to B under a lifetime trust? A and C jointly own the whole property and transfer the beneficial interest in residential part to B under a lifetime trust, A and C retain the legal interest in the residential part and A retains sole legal and beneficial interest in the retained part?

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Landlord’s Section 45 Counter—notice to Tenant s 42 Notice

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Most recent Assignment and underletting content

Precedents

Contract for sale—leasehold vacant possession incorporating the Standard Commercial Property Conditions (Third Edition)

This Agreement is made on [date]Parties1[name of Seller] [of OR incorporated in England and Wales with company registration number [number] whose...

1st Dec

Precedents

Licence to sub-underlet

Date [date]Parties1[name of Landlord] [of OR incorporated in England and Wales with company registration number [number] whose registered office is...

1st Dec

Precedents

Authorised guarantee agreement

Date: [date]Parties1[name of Landlord] [of OR incorporated in England and Wales with company registration number [number] whose registered office is...

1st Dec

Precedents

Licence to assign—new tenancy

DateD [date]Parties1[name of Landlord] [of OR incorporated in England and Wales with company registration number [number] whose registered office is...

1st Dec

Precedents

Licence to assign an underlease

Date [date]Parties1[name of Landlord] [of OR incorporated in England and Wales with company registration number [number] whose registered office is...

1st Dec

Precedents

Licence to underlet

Date [date]Parties1[name of Landlord] [of OR incorporated in England and Wales with company registration number [number] whose registered office is...

1st Dec

Precedents

Licence to change use (new use class contemplated by lease)

Date [date]Parties1[name of Landlord] [of OR incorporated in England and Wales with company registration number [number] whose registered office is...

1st Dec

Q&As

Where a new tenant intends to take assignment of a commercial lease excluded from security of tenure, but has agreed variations with the landlord principally for the lease to fall within the security of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and additional variations regarding liability for insurance and maintenance, can this be documented simply by way of a lease variation or should a new lease be completed?

It is frequently the case that a long commercial lease contains provisions allowing the assignment of that lease to a new lessee, often with specific...

Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk 29th Nov

Q&As

If a landlord is granting a non-assignable lease to a tenant, and it is agreed that the tenant will not have to pay rent, is there any benefit to inserting a market rent in the lease and documenting the peppercorn rent in a side letter as opposed to stating peppercorn rent in the actual lease?

If the tenant is not going to be required to pay rent, then it would be wrong to record in the lease that the rent payable is the market rent when the...

Produced in partnership with Carl Fain of Tanfield Chambers 29th Nov

Q&As

A (original tenant) assigned lease to B (current tenant). A entered into an authorised guarantee agreement(AGA). B is now assigning the lease to C (proposed assignee). Can A stand as guarantor for C, ie can a previous tenant who has given an AGA stand as guarantor for a proposed assignee down the line?

The Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 (LT(C)A 1995) made considerable changes to the extent to which a tenant could be liable for breaches of...

29th Nov

Q&As

A licence to assign authorising the assignment of a lease from the previous tenant to the current tenant included a definition that any reference to the landlord included the landlord’s successors in title but this definition is not included in the authorised guarantee agreement (AGA) given by the previous tenant. Will covenants given by a previous tenant in an AGA be enforceable by the purchaser of the reversion if the AGA does not expressly state it benefits the landlord’s successors in title?

Authorised guarantee agreementsThe term ‘authorised guarantee agreement’ (AGA) is defined in section 16 of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act...

29th Nov

Practice notes

Acting for a tenant—assignment of existing lease—key issues

Is the landlord’s consent required to the assignment?Check the terms of the lease (including any deeds of variation or supplemental documents). If the...

29th Nov

Practice notes

Underlease taking effect as assignment

An underlease that is granted for as long, or longer, than the original lease operates as an assignment and not as an underlease. Consequently, an...

29th Nov

Q&As

Where a tenant has assigned a lease and the outgoing tenant gives an authorised guarantee agreement (AGA), must the outgoing tenant as guarantor be a party to any rent review memorandum which may be entered into in order for any default on the rent to be enforceable as against them?

AGAAn authorised guarantee agreement (AGA) is a form of guarantee given by an outgoing tenant who guarantees some or all of the obligations of the...

29th Nov

Q&As

Can an assignee of a commercial lease be required to pay for utility charges for a period of seven years before it took assignment where the landlord has recalculated charges for that period where it had previously undercharged and if so, can it claim this amount from the former tenant from which it took assignment?

The determination of liabilities arising under a commercial tenancy will depend upon whether the tenancy was created before or after 1 January...

29th Nov

Q&As

Can a consent to assignment from a landlord required under the lease be by way of letter rather than a formal licence? If so must the letter be signed by the landlord or can it be signed by the landlord’s solicitors and if so can the following wording be used: ‘as solicitors for the landlord we now formally consent to the assignment of the lease…?’

The express terms of the covenant are paramount. If the covenant requires some level of formality (eg by a deed, a letter signed by the landlord, or...

Produced in partnership with Desmond Kilcoyne 29th Nov

Q&As

Can a landlord require a tenant who gave an authorised guarantee agreement (AGA) in relation to a protected tenancy to enter into a new AGA when the lease is renewed pursuant to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 or for the AGA to continue?

Release on assignmentIf a landlord requires the tenant to enter into an authorised guarantee agreement (AGA), the tenant will remain liable under the...

29th Nov

Q&As

Where an estate is left to a minor child's mother, would the mother be able to use the estate funds to set up a lifetime trust for the child that is a 'qualifying trust' for a 'relevant minor' and subject to special tax treatment? What Precedent would be suitable for this? How would any applicable tax relief be claimed?

Qualifying trusts for a relevant minorA 'qualifying trust' for a 'relevant minor' may be established under section 35 of the Finance Act 2005 (FA...

Produced in partnership with James Brockhurst of Forsters LLP 29th Nov

Q&As

Is it possible to assign the benefit of specific parts of a contract as opposed to the whole of it?

The starting point is that the benefit of a contract can be assigned to a third party. To this there are a number of immediate exceptions:•first if...

29th Nov

Q&As