Where a debtor pays money to a creditor to whom various sums are outstanding (such as, for example, several months of arrears) the doctrine of appropriation of debt will apply. The first step to is to consider whether the tenancy agreement has an appropriation clause, often referred to as an apportionment clause or an allocation of payments clause. Such a clause will commonly allow the landlord to apportion monies received to the oldest debt first, or may provide for the order of apportionment of funds received, or may, in some circumstances, allow the landlord to allocate the payments as it chooses. The doctrine of appropriation of debt was considered

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) gives the right to tenants of residential flats contained in a building to the first refusal of the acquisition of the landlord’s interest where a sale is proposed. The landlord is required to serve notices on the tenants informing them of the landlord's intention to dispose of an interest and providing time to them to consider a purchase at the offer price. The landlord cannot sell the property during that time, and breach is a criminal offence. The tenants are also able to force the new landlord to sell the property to them at the price paid, if notice of the sale is not given to them. For the right to arise, there

The Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 (CR(C)A 2022) applies to ‘protected rent debts’ which are, broadly: • rent, service charge, interest and value added tax (VAT) • due under a tenancy to which Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) (LTA 1954, s 23) applies (even if contracted out), provided • the whole or part of the business or premises were required by coronavirus (COVID-19) regulations to close, and • the sums are attributable to the ‘protected period’, which runs from 21 March 2020 to the earlier of: ◦ the last day the business or premises were required to close or were subject to regulation as to how the business was run or the way the premises were used, and ◦ in England, 18 July 2021 and in Wales, 7 August 2021 Accordingly, consideration should be given to whether or

While letting out separate rooms in the same property under separate assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) can have legal implications, for example the potential need for licensing as a House of Multiple Occupation, the alteration of the standard processes for terminating them via a notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 and

A lease for three years or less, provided that it is at a market rent, may be created orally. A lease for more than three years can only be made by deed. In law, a tenancy agreement is simply another term for a lease. It is assumed that the sort of period that is being referred to in this Q&A is for the grant of a typical tenancy period (eg 12 months), which is for three years or less. In order for a tenancy to exist, the terms must be ascertainable, for example by reference to a conversation with the landlord or agent; by an exchange of emails; or by reference to a written agreement signed either only by the landlord, or by neither party (eg in draft form). There is no issue that such an agreement

A lease for three years or less, provided that it is at a market rent, may be created orally. A lease for more than three years can only be made by deed. In law, a tenancy agreement is simply another term for a lease. It is assumed that the sort of period that is being referred to in the Q&A is for the grant of a typical tenancy period (eg 12 months), which is for three years or less. In order for a tenancy to exist, the terms must be ascertainable, for example by reference to a conversation with the landlord or agent, by an exchange of emails or by reference to a written agreement signed either only by the landlord or by neither party (eg in draft form).

As you will be aware, a business tenancy may be terminated by service of a tenant's request for a new tenancy under section 26 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954). A tenant's request for a new tenancy must specify a date for such a new tenancy to begin and termination of the existing tenancy takes place (subject to interim continuance under LTA 1954, s 64) immediately before the date specified in that notice. The only tenants who can give a valid section 26 notice are those who hold under a tenancy for: • a term of years certain exceeding one year, whether or not continued under LTA 1954, s 24, or • a tenancy granted for a term of years certain, and thereafter from year to year The request must specify a commencement date

This Q&A raises the nature of the interest which a tenant enjoys when its lease is continued under Part 2 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954). Whenever a tenant occupies premises for the purposes of a business which it carries on there, or in which an individual who has a controlling interest carries it on where the tenant is a company, then the lease has the protection of the LTA 1954 and will continue until brought to an end in accordance with the LTA 1954’s provisions (LTA 1954, s 23–24). As the tenancy

The old regime is not subject to the amends made under the Deregulation Act 2015 (DA 2015) as set out in s 33 to s 40 (see s 41 of the DA 2015 which sets out the application of DA 2015, s 33 to 40). This includes DA 2015, s 36 and Housing Act 1988 (HA 1998), s 21(4D) whereby the possession order may not be begun more than six

If, following a landlord taking back possession of premises (by peaceable re-entry, court order or upon determination of the lease by effluxion of time or break notice etc) the former tenant has left any goods at the premises, in the absence of any express terms in the lease dealing with this scenario, the landlord will become involuntary bailee of the goods and could be liable in conversion if they sell the goods and offset them against arrears, or for damages if they dispose of the goods. As bailee, the

Oral lease It is worth considering initially how an oral lease can arise. As a general rule, the relationship of landlord and tenant arises when one person (the landlord) grants to another (the tenant) a right to the exclusive possession of land for a term less than that which the landlord has in the land. The grant or demise must be either for a period which is subject to a definite limit originally, as in the case of a lease for a term of years certain, or for a period which, although originally indefinite, may be made subject to a definite limit by either party as of right by that party giving appropriate notice to the other, for example a tenancy from year to year. For further information, see: General principles that govern the relationship of landlord and tenant: Halsbury's Laws of England [1]. A term of years may be brought into existence either by statute, as the result of a lease,

The starting point is that where ‘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’, the tenancy will have the protection under section 23(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954). Subject to any right of forfeiture, surrender or service of notice to quit by a tenant, the tenancy can only be brought to an end in accordance with the LTA 1954, s 24(1). The main consequence of this is that when the contractual term comes to an end, then for as long as the premises are occupied by the tenant for the purposes of a business, the tenancy continues. It