The particulars of claim for a CPR Part 55 (CPR 55) claim for possession are outlined in CPR PD 55.4: • identify the land to which the claim relates • state whether the claim relates to residential property • state the ground on which possession is claimed • give full details about any mortgage or tenancy agreement • give details of every person who, to the best of the claimant's knowledge, is in possession of the property EPC and gas safety certificates It is not a pre-condition to issuing CPR 55 for possession under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) to provide that an energy performance certificate (EPC) and a gas safety certificate have been supplied. It is a pre-condition

Save in exceptional circumstances a tenant who has exclusive possession of residential premises, occupies it as their only or principal home and pays a rent will occupy pursuant to an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST)—see subsection 1(1) and section 19A of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988). As a result the tenant can be evicted only by court order following service of either a section 21 notice, which, subject to compliance with the necessary precursor requirements (such as the proper protection of any deposit, and the provision of a gas safety certificate) does not require proof of any fault on behalf of the tenant; or by service of a section 8 notice, which requires proof of one of the grounds set out in HA 1988, Sch 2. HA

Section 48(1) and (2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) provide as follows: • a landlord of premises to which this Act applies shall by notice furnish the tenant with an address in England and Wales at which notices (including notices in proceedings) may be served on him by the tenant • where a landlord of any such premises fails to comply with LTA 1987, s 48(1), any rent, service charge or administration charge otherwise due from the tenant to the landlord shall be treated for all purposes as not being due from the tenant to the landlord at any time before the landlord does comply with that subsection However, LTA 1987, s 48(1) and (2) only apply to premises which consist of or include a dwelling

The first question questions whether a duty of care is owed to a tenant whose English is limited. However, the very nature of presenting a lease to sign may mean that the person in question has not yet become the landlord’s tenant. On the other hand, the tenant may well be an existing tenant of the landlord. Thus, there may be a distinction to be drawn in the nature and extent of any duty owed. However, in the absence of statute, there is no general duty of care between a landlord and a tenant. Nonetheless, there may be a specific assumption of such a duty, albeit the extent of that duty may be limited: see Argy Trading Development Ltd v Lapid Developments Ltd. The essence of the question relates to dealing with a tenant whose

The answer is: yes. Section 1(2) of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) states: ‘…if and so long as a tenancy falls within any paragraph in Part I, Sch,1, to this Act, it cannot be an assured tenancy’ HA 1988, Sch 1, Pt I, para 10 defines the ‘resident landlord’ exclusion as: ‘(1) A tenancy in respect of which the following conditions are fulfilled— (a) that the dwelling-house forms part only of a building and, except in a case where the dwelling-house also forms part of a flat, the building is not a purpose-built block of flats; and (b) that…at the time when the tenancy was granted,

The issue raised by this question is discussed in Commentary: Waiver: Hill and Redman's Law of Landlord and Tenant [4829], which explains that: ‘Some leases contain a contractual obligation upon a landlord to serve a “default notice”, by which they must require the tenant to remedy a particular breach of covenant. Such clauses may also require service of such a notice on a third party, such as a lender with a charge over the lease,

Where a landlord brings proceedings for forfeiture of a lease, the lease will determine upon service of those proceedings. The rationale behind this rule is that the service of proceedings is considered to be an unequivocal act which shows the landlord’s intention to treat the lease conclusively as at an end. However, where possession proceedings are brought, the lease will only in fact terminate when the court makes a judgment for possession. This is in contrast with forfeiture by peaceable re-entry, in which case the lease will be forfeited upon obtaining of possession. As such, in forfeiture proceedings, there will always be a period of uncertainty often referred to as the ‘twilight period’. In this scenario,

Section 4 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA 1985) provides that 'Where a tenant has a right to occupy premises as a residence in consideration of a rent payable weekly, the landlord shall provide a rent book or other similar document for use in respect of the premises'. Accordingly, a landlord has a duty to provide a rent book or similar document to a tenant or statutory tenant of residential property in consideration of rent payable weekly. LTA 1985, s 4 does not apply to those tenants for whom rent includes a payment for board which forms a substantial proportion

From the point of view of the validity and effect of the notice under section 25 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), the answer is no. Under LTA 1954, s 25, the notice must be served on ‘the tenant’—however, this term is not defined in LTA 1954. However, the general view is that ‘the tenant’ is the party or parties in whom the tenancy is vested. This would not include a guarantor. From the point of view of the effectiveness of the guarantee, again, the answer is no. By virtue of the general law of guarantees, any variation of the terms of the lease agreed between the landlord and tenant will discharge the guarantor, unless the guarantor consents or the variation is 'self-evidently insubstantial or non-prejudicial'

This Q&A assumes that • the landlord intends to make a relevant disposal • the premises qualifies pursuant to section 1(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) and is not exempt pursuant to LTA 1987, s 1(3) LTA 1987, Pt 1 gives qualifying tenants of flats a right of first refusal enabling them to purchase the interest of their landlord if and when the landlord proposes to dispose of it. The right is framed in negative terms, prohibiting the landlord from making a relevant disposal without first serving a notice under LTA 1987, s 5 (commonly referred to as a ‘section 5 notice’) on the qualifying tenants and requiring that the disposal is made in accordance with the statutory requirements. The right of first refusal applies to premises if: • they

This Q&A refers to a contract between two companies contracting for business purposes. The date on which an agreement is intended to take effect can be different to the date on which it is signed. Unless otherwise provided, an agreement takes effect once signed by all parties. If the effective date is not the date on which the document is signed by all the parties this should be made clear in the agreement itself in a separate commencement clause. See the Drafting Notes to Precedent: Commencement and term clause and Practice Note: Executing documents—deeds and simple contracts and Q&A: If a contract’s actual date and effective date are different, is the effective date enforceable?

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is charged on chargeable land transactions. A land transaction is defined as the acquisition of a chargeable interest. The term acquisition is not specifically defined in the SDLT legislation. However, the legislation provides that: • the acquisition of land does not require there to be an instrument effecting the transaction