Refine By
Clear all filter
About 90774 results for "*"
A tenant has issued lease renewal proceedings for two separate protected leases in one set of proceedings (using Form N208) and paid only a single court fee in respect of them. Can the landlord argue that the claim is irregular (and one of the applications for renewal was not made properly and is now time-barred) on the basis that a single claim (with a single Court fee) in respect of separate premises and separate leases was made?
Q&As
This Q&A assumes that the lease renewal proceedings are unopposed on the basis that Form N208 for claims under CPR 8 is being used. Unopposed lease renewal proceedings will be governed by CPR 56 and CPR PD 56, which provide that an unopposed Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) application must be made under CPR Part 8, save that rules 8.5 and 8.6 do not apply (CPR 56.3, CPR PD 56.2, para 2.1 and CPR 8). Under Part 7 (which must be used for opposed lease renewal proceedings CPR 56.3, CPR PD 56.2,
A tenant has made a court claim for a new tenancy pursuant to section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 following the service of a section 26 notice. The lease contains a rolling six-month break clause which either landlord or tenant can exercise. Can the landlord serve a break notice on the tenant and what would its effect be having regard to the tenant’s ongoing claim for a new lease?
Q&As
If the landlord serves a purported break notice on the tenant, it will be of no effect on the application for a new tenancy. Where a fixed term tenancy contains a rolling six-month break clause, the landlord can serve a break notice which will have the effect of terminating the contractual fixed term on the date specified in the notice. However, if the tenancy is one to which the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) applies at that time, the tenancy will continue by virtue of LTA 1954, s 24. This is because the tenancy can only be terminated by a method initiated
A tenant has said it will vacate business premises protected by LTA 1954 at the expiry of the contractual term, however the landlord has already served a section 25 notice. The termination date is three months after the expiry of the contractual term. In a situation such as this does the section 25 notice have the effect of extending the tenant's liability for rent and tenant's covenants until the termination date specified in the section 25 notice, or just until the end of the contractual term?
Q&As
By section 23 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), LTA 1954 Pt II applies to any tenancy where the property comprised in the tenancy is or includes premises which are occupied by the tenant and are so occupied for the purposes of a business carried on by him or for those and other purposes. By LTA 1954, s 24, a tenancy to which LTA 1954, Pt II applies shall not come to an end unless terminated in accordance with the provisions of Part II. Accordingly, if at the moment
A tenant has served a break notice with the break date later this year. The break is subject to pre-conditions. The parties have now agreed to enter into a new short term letting after the break date of the same premises. If the parties enter into the new short term reversionary lease (ie with a commencement date after the break date) would it act as a surrender and regrant as at present there is no certainty that the current lease will end? Will this be any different if the pre-conditions are waived? If the above does not work, is there an alternative way to structure the deal?
Q&As
A surrender by operation of law will arise where a landlord grants a new lease of premises to their existing tenant. This is discussed in detail in Commentary: • Surrender by operation of law: Hill and Redman's Law of Landlord and Tenant [4290] • Surrender by grant of new lease to tenant: Halsbury's Laws of England [525] It is clear that a surrender also takes place on the grant of a future
A tenant has served a break notice. The break option is conditional on providing vacant possession. The parties have agreed that the tenant can leave some equipment behind. To avoid the landlord arguing that the break option has failed, is it possible to document the waiver of the condition to provide vacant possession?
Q&As
This question raises the requirement to comply with the terms of a break clause if a tenant is to bring a tenancy to an end. The courts are quite strict when it comes to determining when it has to be exercised. Time is of the essence as is compliance with the terms of the clause. As Lord Diplock put it in the House of Lords decision in United Scientific Holdings Ltd v Burnley Borough Council; Cheapside Land Development Co Ltd v Messels Service Co: ‘The exercise of this option by the tenant will have the effect of depriving the landlord of the existing source of income from his property and the evident purpose of the stipulation as to notice is to leave him free thereafter to enter
A tenant has served a section 42 notice requesting a new lease for a term of 999 years at a nil ground rent. Given that under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 the tenant is only entitled to a 90-year extension, will the section 42 notice be invalid?
Q&As
Under section 42 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) a tenant has the right to extend the term of their lease. The extension could be for a further 90 years on top of the current term of the tenant’s lease. In order to qualify for this right, the tenant will need to have a ‘long lease’ and will need to have owned it for two years or more. The lease will not qualify if it is a business or commercial lease, or if the landlord is a charitable housing trust. The process for extending the lease commences by way of service of a notice pursuant to LRHUDA 1993, s 42 on the landlord. Service of the notice fixes the valuation
A tenant has served a valid section 26 notice and interim rent runs from the earliest date that could have been specified in the section 26 notice. However, if the original landlord of the relevant premises sells its freehold interest and a new landlord steps in, would the new landlord (assuming the sale contract for the superior title is silent) be liable to pay the back-dated interim rent to the tenant from the date of the section 26 notice, or only from the date the new landlord owns the premises?
Q&As
Interim rent is an amount which is reasonable for the tenant to pay while its tenancy is being continued, pursuant to section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954). Either a landlord or tenant may make an interim rent application once an LTA 1954, s 25 notice or LTA 1954, s 26 request has been served, and can be made as part of the lease renewal proceedings or as a standalone application. Pursuant to LTA 1954, s 24B, interim rent is payable from the ‘appropriate
A tenant has served one month’s notice to end a statutory periodic tenancy continuing after the end of a fixed term AST. The rent is paid monthly. The original AST contained a mutual break clause requiring two months' notice to expire at the end of a rental period. Does this provision override the common law position such that the tenant must give two months’ notice or is only one month’s notice necessary?
Q&As
General principles Following the expiry of a fixed term assured shorthold tenancy (AST), a periodic tenancy arises by virtue of section 5 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988). Pursuant to s 5(3)(d) of HA 1988, the period of the resulting tenancy is to be determined by reference to 'the period for which rent was last payable' under the fixed tenancy. In the present case, it is clear that rent is paid monthly, and so the tenancy that arises by operation
A tenant has stayed in occupation for five years after the expiry of the term of an excluded lease. He pays rent monthly. he now wants to vacate—what period of notice should he give? From the practice notes, it is likely to be a periodic tenancy with the protection of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954). As the original lease was for a term of five years paying a monthly sum, it is likely to be a monthly periodic tenancy so one month's notice would have to be given. How does the tenant bring the lease to an end under LTA 1954? He does not want to renew so section 26 notice is not applicable and LTA 1954, s 27 notice cannot be used for a periodic tenancy.
Q&As
This response considers the termination of a business tenancy when the tenant has stayed in occupation for a period of years following expiry of a tenancy, not subject to the protection of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), by efflux of time. Nature of the tenancy The
A tenant has sworn a statutory declaration to contract out of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 before a magistrate. Does the magistrate need to insert their home address into the statutory declaration for it to be valid or is their signature enough? If the statutory declaration is invalid, will the contracting out process still have been completed correctly because the notice was served, and the declaration signed by the tenant more than 14 days before completion?
Q&As
It is assumed that the statutory declaration has been sworn before, and not by, a magistrate. Under section 18 of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835, any justice of the peace, notary public or other officer authorised at the time of the passing of the Act to administer an oath may take the declaration of any person voluntarily making the declaration before them in the prescribed form. The Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, despite its title and its use of the term 'magistrates' court', still uses the description 'justice of the peace' to describe the holder of the office. In practice, most declarations are made
A tenant has taken a new contracted out lease of a premises they formerly occupied under a lease and then a tenancy at will. The tenant has now served a break notice to determine the new lease. The landlord has issued a schedule of dilapidations which includes the removal of some partitions. The partitions were in situ at the grant of the new lease and are not expressly referred to in the new lease. Can the landlord serve a schedule of dilapidations in connection with the tenant’s former lease (which expired recently (but prior to the tenancy at will and the new lease) and is within the limitation period for action)?
Q&As
This Q&A relates to whether the landlord can serve a schedule of dilapidations in respect of partitioning. It looks at whether the existence of partitioning will prejudice the ability of the tenant to determine the lease by the operation of the break. The latter is not considered in this response. Further, this Q&A assumes that the partitions were installed (with the authorisation of the landlord) by the tenant
A tenant has taken an assignment of a commercial property in which there are problems with the electrical cabling. To what extent is the landlord/tenant or assignor liable for rectifying the problems? The tenant is required to comply with statutory requirements and there is no express landlord obligation to repair the electrical cabling in the lease.
Q&As
Allocation of responsibility for repair The responsibility for maintenance and repair will depend on the terms of the lease and, most importantly, the definition of the demised premises. As an example, if the lease is part only of the landlord’s property then the demise will usually include only the service media within and exclusively serving the demised premises, and which are owned by the landlord and exclude any service media within the demised premises, but which do not serve it exclusively, or which are not owned by the landlord. Then the landlord’s retained property will often include the service media within it and outside but exclusively serving it (but excluding any service media not owned by the landlord). Thus, even in the absence of a specific