Prescription is a means of acquiring a right through long use of enjoyment. There are three methods of claiming a right by prescription: • at common law; • by lost modern grant; • under the Prescription Act 1832 (PA 1832) Common law At common law, it is presumed that a right which could be shown to have been exercised for at least 20 years, had commenced before 1189. This presumption could be rebutted by showing either of the following: • the right had not in fact been exercised at all times since before 1189, or • at some point the dominant and

A tenancy at will is a precarious interest, which, as its name suggests, can be brought to an end at the will of the landlord. No notice period needs to be given. As soon as the landlord communicates to the tenant the intention that the tenancy be brought to an end, it determines automatically. If the tenant remains in occupation, it does so as a trespasser. For more information in respect of tenancies at will, see Practice Note: Leases and licences of land—key features and differences and Commentary: Nature of tenancy at will: Halsbury's Laws of England [192]. It is assumed that the intention

Unless the parties to the lease follow the statutory procedure to exclude it, a tenant who occupies premises for the purposes of a business carried on by him will have the protection of Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) and LTA 1954, s 23(1). When that tenancy is brought to an end in accordance with the machinery of the LTA 1954, the tenant is entitled to apply to the court for a new tenancy. This question raises the issue as to what property will be comprised in that new tenancy. The starting point is that the tenant is entitled to a new tenancy of 'the holding'. This follows

It is often the case that, following the expiration of a business tenancy that has been excluded from the security of tenure provisions contained within Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), a tenant will continue to occupy the premises while negotiations take place for a new lease. If the parties are not

Section 23 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) provides as follows: ‘Subject to the provisions of this Act, this Part of this Act 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.’ LTA 1954, s 24 provides: ‘(1) A tenancy to which this Part of this Act applies shall not come to an end unless terminated in accordance with the provisions

Refusing the grant of a new lease As explained in Practice Note: Grounds of opposition: ground (a)—breach of repairing obligation, a landlord can oppose the grant of a new lease under section 30(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 by specifying ground of opposition (a): 'Where under the current tenancy the tenant has any obligations in respect of repair and maintenance of the holding, that the tenant ought not be granted a new tenancy in view of the state of repair of the holding, being a state resulting from the tenant’s failure to comply with he said obligation.' The breach must be considered as at the date of the actual hearing. The state of the repair must be a result of

Pursuant to the provisions of the Finance Act 2003 (FA 2003), Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is charged in respect of land transactions. A land transaction is defined in FA 2003, s 43 as the acquisition of a chargeable interest. For the purposes of FA 2003, a leasehold estate is a chargeable interest. For more detail, see Practice Note: Land transactions, chargeable interests and chargeable transactions. The surrender of a lease is an acquisition of a chargeable interest by the landlord (FA 2003, s 43(3)(b)) and the grant of a lease is an acquisition of a chargeable interest by the tenant. For more details, see Practice Note: SDLT—common lease transactions. FA 2003, Sch 17A, para 16 provides that where a lease is granted in

This Q&A assumes that it is proposed that the outgoing tenant (ie the assignor), rather than the assignee, will give the rent deposit. The Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 (LT(C)A 1995) makes provision for liability of tenants and their guarantors post-assignment. LT(C)A 1995, s 5(2)(a) provides that if: 'a tenant assigns the whole of the premises demised to him...he is released from the tenant covenants of the tenancy...as from the assignment'. LT(C)A 1995, s 16 provides for, as a concession to landlords, the concept of an 'authorised guarantee agreement' (AGA) by which, in certain circumstances, a tenant can guarantee the obligations

An implied surrender and re-grant taking effect by operation of law can occur if an agreed variation of the terms of a lease is so fundamental that the law regards it as being wholly inconsistent with the original lease. The original lease is deemed to have been surrendered and a new lease is deemed to have been granted between the parties on the terms of the lease as varied. An increase in the length of the term of the original lease is a variation which takes effect as an implied surrender and re-grant. It should be noted that obiter statements in Dreams v

Rent The deadline for the landlord or tenant to make an application to the court for the grant of a new business tenancy under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), or for the termination of the current tenancy without grant of a new tenancy (if the landlord is opposing the grant of a new tenancy), is the date specified in the landlord's section 25 notice or the date immediately before the date specified in the tenant's section 26 request (the ‘statutory

As a preliminary point, this Q&A states the company will be entering administration either before or after contracts for the sublease are exchanged. However, once a company has entered administration, the directors in effect lose control of the company to the administrator who may or may not decide to enter into the sublease. It is unlikely that the company (acting through its administrators) would grant the sublease in administration; this will depend on what the administrator intends to do with the business and assets of the company. We also note that it is an unusual step for a company to take to grant a sublease prior to entering administration. We do not have the full circumstances

The grant by the landlord of a new lease to the tenant amounts to a surrender by operation of law. This is because the landlord would have no power to grant the new lease unless the old lease had been surrendered, so the parties’ conduct in entering into the new lease is unequivocal evidence that the old lease has been surrendered. Provided the contracting-out procedure is followed in respect of the new excluded lease, the tenant will lose the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) protection once the new lease is granted. LTA 1954, s 28 says that