Case study A lease grants an access way over the landlord’s adjoining property (all of the landlord's land is under one registered title). The boundary of the landlord's title stops short of the public highway, but the whole of the title benefits from a right of way over that intervening parcel of land. The lease does not state that it is granted subject to and with the benefit of all title matters. It also states that no rights are granted by the lease other than those expressly set out and for the avoidance of doubt the operation of section 62 of the Law of Property Act 1925

As set out in Practice Note: Guide to lease extensions of flats under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993: '….the right is expressed as the tenant

This issue was considered by the Senior Courts Cost Office (SCCO) in Hyde. It held that a Community Legal Services Funding certificate (legal aid certificate) does not need to be formally discharged by the Legal Aid Agency (formerly the Legal Services Commission) before entering into another form of funding arrangement. Mr Justice Soole dismissed an appeal on the basis that he found that the discharge of legal aid funding was a matter of procedure and it was clear that such funding had come to an end. The client was entitled to continue to the action by entering into

The precise legal boundary is fixed by the deeds showing the title to the land (the conveyance that first separated the land from a larger parcel being most relevant, where available). These are construed taking into account admissible extrinsic evidence. The location of the boundary is found by interpreting the transfer creating the boundary; that is, the transfer in which the two parcels of land were divided from each other. The rules of contractual interpretation apply and require consideration of the document as a whole and the physical features on the ground at the time of the transfer. For further information on the rules of contractual interpretation, see Practice Note: Contract interpretation—the guiding principles. In Drake v Fripp, Lewison LJ suggested the following approach: • look at the parcels clause, where the land is

The rules on priority in registered land are governed by the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002). Under the basic rule of priority, the priority of an interest affecting a registered estate or charge is not affected by a disposition of the estate or charge (LRA 2002, s 28). However, the registration of a registrable disposition made for valuable consideration (including the grant of a legal charge) postpones the priority of an earlier interest if that earlier interest is not ‘protected’ (the Special Rule) (LRA 2002, ss 27(2)(f) and 29). For further guidance on the basic rule and the Special Rule, see Practice Note: Land registration—notices and priority under the Land Registration Act 2002. The priority of a legal charge is protected by registration of the charge at HM Land Registry (HMLR) (LRA 2002, ss 27, 28,

Statutory power of sale—can it be exercised without a court order if residential property? If the charge is by deed the chargee will have the statutory powers re the power of sale under section 101 of the Law of Property 1925 (assuming that those powers have not been limited). See our Practice Note Mortgages and land—an introduction to mortgages and legal charges over land for more information. In principle, the mortgagor does not need to take back possession in order to exercise their power of sale. However, from a practical perspective possession is usually sought as a first step in exercising a power of sale to 'enable the mortgagee to realise a better price for the property by being able to offer vacant possession when selling under the statutory or an express power

The case of Eagle Star Insurance Company Limited v Green illustrates that a legal mortgage of land need not be executed

A sale by a mortgagee is normally effected without a court order, by exercising the mortgagee's statutory power of sale in section 101(1)(i) of the Law of Property Act 1925. This is provided that the mortgage is made by deed and no contrary intention regarding a power

Form of section 27(1) notice It appears that a tenant’s notice under section 27(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) is not required to be in a prescribed form. LTA 1954, s 27(1) provides: 'Where the tenant under a tenancy to which this Part of this Act applies, being a tenancy granted for a term of years certain, gives to the immediate landlord, not later than three months before the date on which apart from this Act the tenancy would come to an end by effluxion of time, a notice in writing that the tenant does not desire the tenancy to be continued, section twenty-four of this Act shall not have effect in relation to the tenancy [unless the notice is given before the tenant has been in occupation in right of the tenancy for one month].' [our emphasis] The

In answering this Q&A, we assume the scenario related to registration of the assignment itself rather than registration of the document (ie the licence) that provides landlord’s consent to the assignment. We are not aware of any requirement to register a licence itself (unless the licence varies the leases, perhaps, in which case it should be treated as a deed of variation for registration purposes). It is compulsory to register most transfers of registered leases, irrespective of the length of the lease term, save for, by operation of law, a transfer on the death or bankruptcy of an individual proprietor and a transfer on

This Q&A assumes that the property in question is a matrimonial home and that it is the estate of the licensor that is under consideration. It is assumed that the licensee is not the spouse or civil partner of the licensor and that the licence is on terms beneficial to the licensee (eg the licensee provides no consideration). If the licensor grants a licence to occupy property in favour of a third party, that is clearly a ‘disposition’ for IHT purposes.

Energy performance in buildings is regulated under the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/3118 (EPC Regs 2012) and the Building Regulations 2010, SI 2010/2214 (Building Regs 2010), which implement the requirements of the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2010/31/EU (recast EPBD directive). An energy performance certificate (EPC) is required when an existing building is sold or rented out (EPC Regs 2012, SI 2012/3118, reg 6). The seller or the prospective landlord must make an EPC available to 'a prospective buyer or tenant' free of charge at the earliest opportunity. This can be provided electronically, where the prospective buyer or tenant consents to this (EPC Regs 2012, SI 2012/3118, regs 6, 13). A person becomes a prospective buyer or tenant in relation to a building