Background A rent deposit is a sum of money provided by a tenant to its landlord by way of security for: (i) payment of the rent; and (ii) performance of the covenants found in the lease. The rent deposit deed itself will, in the usual circumstances, set out in detail when a landlord can draw down against the rent deposit and the conditions that the tenant must meet before the rent deposit is repaid to it. The primary benefit of a rent deposit to commercial landlords is that it allows them to have access to an immediate source of funds that can be withdrawn when a tenant acts in a manner which amounts to a breach of covenant, including, for the avoidance of doubt, the covenant

Taking back possession of a garage Where a landlord has let a dwelling such as a house or a flat, they are not entitled to take back possession of the premises other than by court proceedings where the tenant is still in occupation. This is by virtue of sections 2 and 3 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 (PEA 1977). PEA 1977, s 2 states: ‘Where any premises are let as a dwelling on a lease which is subject to a right of re-entry or forfeiture it shall not be lawful to enforce that right otherwise

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FIA 2000) and Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998) operate separately, except when it comes to this problem. In FIA 2000 there are a number of exemptions. The effect of the exemptions is to exempt the type, nature or existence of that information from being disclosed under FIA 2000. In this case the relevant exemption is to be found in FIA 2000, s 40 specifically FIA 2000, ss 40(1) and 40(5)(a). If the information in question is personal data and the data subject makes an application for disclosure under FIA 2000 then the exemption is absolute. This means

The right to access neighbouring land An easement is a right which is annexed to a piece of land, to use another person's land or to prevent the neighbour from using their land in a particular way. Easements can only be created by statute or by a grant. Where the neighbour is willing to allow access to their land, an easement can be created by an express grant of one. The grant of an easement for a legal estate must be effected by a deed. As stated above, however, an easement can also be created by statute. One such statute is the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992 (ANLA 1992) which creates the concept of an ‘access order’. Access orders ANLA 1992, s 1 permits a person who, for the purpose of carrying out works to any land (the dominant land), desires to enter upon any adjoining

Where a court makes a child arrangements order, pursuant to section 8 of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989), for a child to live with a person who is not the parent or guardian of a child, that person shall have parental responsibility for the child while the order remains in force so far as providing for the child to live with that person (ChA 1989, s 12(2)). The person will retain parental responsibility for so long as the order for the child to live with them remains in place. In the scenario of this Q&A, the

The answer to this Q&A will depend on whether the components of the kitchen and bathroom are fixtures or fittings, and, if they are the former, whether they are landlord’s or tenant’s fixtures or have become part of the demise. Fixtures or fittings? Whether a chattel has been so affixed to the land or buildings as to become a fixture depends on the circumstances of each case, but mainly on two factors: the degree of annexation and the object and purpose of the annexation. If the chattel can be removed without doing irreparable damage to the premises, neither the method nor the degree of annexation, nor the quantum of damage that would be done to the chattel or to the premises by its removal, affects

The Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) imposes a requirement upon landlords to deal with deposits taken in respect of assured shorthold tenancies in accordance with schemes authorised under it (HA 2004, s 213(1)). There are two schemes: the custodial scheme and the insurance scheme (HA 2004, s 212(8) and HA 2004, Sch 10, paras 1(2), 4). In the case of the former, the deposit is paid into an account held by a scheme administrator, while in the latter, the landlord retains it but gives an undertaking to the administrator to return, who in turn maintains a policy of insurance in the event that the landlord fails to do so. This Q&A does not consider the penalties for failing to comply with those requirements (HA 2004, s 214) or the prohibition upon the landlord serving a section 21 notice (section 21 of the Housing Act 1988) for

The Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) regulates how landlords must deal with tenants’ deposits for assured shorthold tenancy (ASTs). The relevant provisions came into force on 6 April 2007. HA 2004, s 213 requires a landlord who has received a tenancy deposit to register it with an authorised scheme and provide information relating to it within 30 days of receiving the deposit (prior to amendment by section 184 of the Localism Act 2011, this was within 14 days). If a landlord fails to take these steps, HA 2004, s 214 allows a tenant to apply to Court for an order that the deposit may be protected or returned and that the landlord pays to the tenant a sum of money not less than the amount of the deposit and

The Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009 effectively disapplies the rule against perpetuities from future easements granted on or after 6 April 2010, so a draftsman now need not be concerned to specify a perpetuity period. Any restrictions on the exercise of the easement specified in the document itself, will, of course, still apply. However, the rule still applies to easements granted before 6 April 2010. Perpetuities are not an issue if the subject matter of the easement already exists at the date of grant. For example, the rule has no application to an easement to use existing service media. However, where an easement is granted to use service media which may be

The covenant is said to be that only a single-family unit may occupy the property. For the purpose of this Q&A it is assumed that the property is a residential assured shorthold tenancy. The landlord is likely to be a private landlord who is keen to ensure that the property is not over-occupied, or to prevent parts of the property being let to lodgers. What constitutes ‘a single-family unit'? There is no statutory definition of a ‘single-family unit’ which would be applicable in these circumstances. The law would import the interpretation afforded by the ‘man on the

The following assumptions have been made for the purposes of this Q&A, that: • it was anticipated by all parties at the time a lease was granted that a tenant would have exclusive occupation of the premises without any restrictions as to the amount of time a tenant could spend in occupation of the premises on an annual basis or otherwise • the lease contains a standard provision whereby the tenant covenants to comply with regulations made by the landlord from time to time • following the grant of the lease, the landlord created a regulation preventing a tenant from occupying the premises for more than a certain amount of time in

In this Q&A there are no section 20B Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA 1985) issues as notices have previously been served. The Q&A considers whether or not a term in a residential lease permitting a landlord to increase a tenant’s service charge contribution can be applied retrospectively. Whilst a lease may define the percentage service charge that a tenant is liable to pay, statute limits the amount that may be recovered from tenants of dwellings by way of service charge. The landlord may recover no more than is ‘reasonable’ notwithstanding any contrary provision