Where a former tenant of a new lease has given an authorised guarantee agreement (AGA), and the assignee defaults in payment of the rent, the former tenant may be liable to the landlord for the shortfall. The liability is subject to the landlord serving a notice under section 17 of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 (LT(C)A 1995) (a 'section 17 notice'). The section 17 notice must be

When the headlease is forfeited, that determines both the headlease itself and any sublease granted out of it, regardless of whether consent to the sublease was granted by the landlord. At that point, the subtenant has no legal right to remain in occupation. See Practice Notes: Forfeiture of a lease under the heading ‘Forfeiture of a lease—Effect of forfeiture’ and What happens to an underlease on termination of the lease? If the sub-tenant is allowed to remain by the landlord, then there are a number of possible bases on which the sub-tenant could then be said to occupy the premises. First, the sub-tenant could be a tolerated

The starting point is that where a notice of claim is served, the tenant by whom it is given is liable for the reasonable costs incurred by the landlord in dealing with certain matters (section 60(1) of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993)). They are: ‘(1) any investigation reasonably undertaken of the tenant’s right to make the claim, (2) any valuation of the flat undertaken for the purposes of fixing the premium or other amount payable by the tenant and (3) the grant of the lease (LRHUDA 1993, s 60(1))’ Although these costs may extend to

There does not appear to be any guidance or case law on this specific scenario. Section 1(3) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1988 makes it clear that where landlord's consent is required for an assignment, the landlord must give that consent except where it is reasonable to withhold it. This applies even where the covenant does not expressly provide that a landlord is not unreasonably to withhold consent. Section 19(1)(a) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 imports that requirement into any covenant that requires landlord’s consent for alienation, and applies ‘notwithstanding any express provision to the contrary’. Consent

Please see our Practice Note: Business rates—empty property, which states that empty property relief applies for the first three months that retail premises are unoccupied (six months in the case of industrial premises). This relief however, attaches to the property rather than the owner so a developer can sell or lease a qualifying property with the benefit of the remaining period of the relief. If the full period of relief has been claimed by the tenant, there is no scope for the landlord to claim further relief. For this reason, commercial leases often include provisions requiring the tenant to indemnify

If a charity is removed from the charity register, its trust funds and assets would be transferred to a suitable charity with similar purposes. See Practice Note: Charity Commission regulatory and enforcement powers. We assume that the charity was not wound up due to insolvency, but if that is the case then see Practice Note: Distressed charities—insolvency. A landlord’s

In this situation there has not been a formal assignment of the lease because Company B refuses to obtain directors' guarantees which is a requirement before the tenant can assign. It is not unusual for a lease to restrict the ability of the tenant to assign it. The range of possible restrictions runs from an absolute bar, to requiring the consent of the landlord, to requiring that consent and also complying with certain conditions, entry into guarantees being one of them. Where there is requirement to obtain consent, section 19(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 (LTA 1927) imposes a requirement that it be not unreasonably withheld. An assignment following a failure to seek consent or comply with any conditions

A power unique to liquidators and trustees is the power to disclaim onerous property. However, there are restrictions on the use of that power, including where a person interested in any property which could be disclaimed requires the liquidator to decide whether to disclaim that property by delivering an application to the liquidator in writing. Disclaimer can no longer be effected after the period of 28 days beginning with the day

A surrender by operation of law takes place when the unequivocal conduct of both parties is inconsistent with the continuation of the lease. The grant of a new lease between the same landlord and tenant has been held to be a surrender by operation of law. This is the case even where one

Where a company registered in England and Wales is struck off the register and dissolved, its property is deemed bona vacantia, and passes to the Crown or relevant Duchy. This includes any lease of which the company was tenant. See, generally, Practice Note: Dissolution and bona vacantia property—enforcement of security. Where the property has no value to the Crown (as is likely to be the case with a commercial tenancy), the Crown will disclaim the

Misrepresentation Misrepresentation is a statement of a fact which is untrue. In order to establish a misrepresentation you must be able to point to the represented words either on the page or electronically, or point to them being said by a certain person, on a certain date. There must be an actual representation or statement. The representation must be a fact, as distinct from a statement of opinion, a statement of intention or a commendatory statement. The representation must be false. The general rule is that, in determining whether there has been an express representation, and to what effect, the court has to consider what a reasonable person would have understood from the words used in the context

For the purposes of this Q&A, we have assumed that the tenant exercised an option to renew requiring the landlord to grant a new lease on expiry of the lease. Options to renew generally A contractual option to take a lease for a further term is a ‘call’ option. It confers a unilateral right on the tenant to call for a renewal lease (often subject to conditions precedent such as all rents being paid up to date and the tenant not being in material breach of covenant). There is no obligation on the tenant to exercise their right, but if they do, the landlord is bound to perform their part of the bargain. A call option is a contract for the sale of land within section