The Q&A is posed against a background of mismanagement of the tenant’s deposit by the letting agent who will have been acting as the landlord’s agent. This mismanagement culminates with the agent absconding with the deposit. The landlord reimburses the tenant for half of the deposit. The question does not explain why only half was returned, but one may assume the remainder was retained to account for disrepair

Section 214 of the Housing Act 2004 as amended provides that a tenant may bring a claim against the landlord under the modified Part 8 procedure for financial compensation where the landlord has failed to protect the deposit. This must be a sum between one and three times the amount of the deposit. Where the tenancy is continuing, the court can require the deposit to be paid into a relevant scheme. Section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980 provides that a claim must be brought within six years of the accrual of the cause of action. At present there

On dissolution, all property and rights vested in, or held on trust for the company, immediately before dissolution are deemed to be bona vacantia and vest in the Crown (or in the Duchy of Lancaster or Duke of Cornwall if the company’s registered office was in Lancaster or Cornwall respectively). This includes leasehold property, but not property held by the company on trust for any other person (section 1012(1) of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006)). The Crown is not obliged to deal with property vested in it as bona vacantia in any particular way. It has power to disclaim it and, in respect of onerous property, will usually

The Land Registry Practice guide 19A: restrictions and leasehold properties states at paragraph 3.3: ‘The registrar may cancel a restriction only where they are satisfied that it is no longer required. As an alternative you may be able to apply for the registrar to make an order to disapply the restriction under section 41(2) of the Land Registration Act 2002. It will not usually be possible to cancel (rather than to disapply) a restriction where, for example, the restrictioner cannot be traced or contacted or where it is claimed that a consent or certificate required under the terms of the restriction is being unreasonably withheld. You need to apply using form RX2 to disapply a restriction,

Tenant’s break notice Commentators consider that a tenant’s break notice should be treated as a 'notice to quit' for the purposes of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954). This is on the basis that s 69 states that it relates not just to periodic tenancies, but also to tenancies for a term of year's certain. Accordingly, a notice to quit in that context must be a break notice. See commentary from Ross: Commercial Leases, Division N, Chapter 2, paragraph 57. Service of a tenant’s notice to quit is a valid method of terminating a business tenancy, ie: • LTA 1954, s 24(1) provides that a tenancy protected under the LTA 1954 will not come to an end unless terminated

On balance, the tenant should serve a notice to state what modifications are to be made to the terms of the lease under section 15 of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (LRA 1967). Under LRA 1967, s 15(1), …the new tenancy to be granted under section 14 above shall be a tenancy on the same terms as the existing tenancy as those terms apply at the relevant time, but with such modifications as may be required or appropriate to take account: • of the omission from the new tenancy of property comprised in the existing tenancy, or,

The wording of section 60 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) suggests that the trigger for liability for payment of the landlord’s fees is the service of the tenant’s section 42 notice (as opposed to service of the section 45 counter-notice) and so, as the tenant has served the section 42 notice, strictly speaking, it is liable

The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) allows inter alia a tenant to serve notice pursuant to LRHUDA 1993, s 42 to exercise the right to acquire a new lease with an additional term of 90 years and at a peppercorn rent. The LRHUDA 1993, s 42 notice must be given to the landlord and contain specified particulars, including the date by which the

In answering this Q&A, it is assumed that the tenancy in question is a residential tenancy, rather than a commercial lease. It is further assumed that the nature of the residential tenancy is an assured shorthold tenancy. Such a tenancy amounts to a contract at common law, but is also subject to various statutory enactments, including the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) and the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 (PEA 1977). A fixed-term tenancy cannot be terminated at common law by either party unless there is a break clause or surrender is accepted by the landlord. A tenant seeking to terminate a fixed-term tenancy early will still be liable to pay the rent due

See Practice Note: Guide to lease extensions of flats under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, which provides: ‘If the landlord fails to serve a counter-notice, or fails to state whether the claim is admitted or denied, or fails to deal with the tenant’s proposals, the

The entitlement to determine a lease by the service of a break notice is an option to determine and so will be construed strictly. Service even one day late (or early) will invalidate the notice. The position is quite different in relation to rent review provisions. The general principle in relation to whether time is of the essence of service in rent review provisions is that it is not unless: (a) the clause

Requirements for a valid section 42 notice The service of a section 42 notice (section 42 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993)) is the formal step required to obtain an extended lease of a flat. LRHUDA 1993, s 42(3) provides specific requirements that must be included in a notice. These are the full name of the tenant and the address of the property in respect of which they are claiming—sufficient particulars to identify the extent of the relevant flat, sufficient particulars of the lease and its commencement date and term, the proposed premium and terms of acquisition, the date by which the landlord must give any counter-notice and at LRHUDA 1993, s 42(3)(e), the particulars if any [emphasis added] of the person appointed by the tenant to act for