Under section 5 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987), a landlord must serve a notice on the qualifying tenants of flats before making a relevant disposal, giving the tenants a right of first refusal and enabling them to purchase their landlord’s interest. Under LTA 1987, ss 5A–5D, a section 5 notice must include particulars of the principal terms of the landlord’s proposed disposal, including the property and the estate or interest in that property to which the contract relates. The law is silent as to whether these particulars

Where a company occupies premises for the purpose of a business the tenancy is sometimes protected by Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954). This means that the tenancy does not come to an end by effluxion of time but is continued on a statutory basis. The tenant has the right to apply for a new tenancy which the landlord can object to on specified grounds under LTA 1954, s 30. For more information, see Practice Note: LTA 1954 business lease renewal—termination. However it is possible to contract out of the provisions

The TCC decision in the case of Amey Birmingham Highways Ltd v Birmingham City Council provides clear guidance to parties on drafting statements of agreed facts, which should: • rarely involve reference to the source documents behind the agreed facts • be limited to the material facts as alleged in the pleadings, and • not deal in detail with issues of admissibility or relevance Amey—the facts In a claim concerning the construction of a contract, the parties were unable to agree the terms of one paragraph of a case management order made by the court following a hearing. The parties therefore sought further directions from the

A tenant wishing to claim an extended lease of their house under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (LRA 1967) will first serve a notice of claim on the landlord. The service of the notice creates a contract between the landlord and the tenant for the grant of the new extended lease. See Practice Note: Guide to the right to enfranchisement and lease extensions of houses under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (LRA 1967). Part II of the Schedule to the Leasehold Reform (Enfranchisement and Extension) Regulations 1967 (LR(EE) Regs 1967), SI 1967/1879,

A sub-tenancy is a tenancy created out of the headlease and will ordinarily mean that there is no privity of contract between the subtenant and the freeholder. It is well-established following the line of authorities approving the Court of Appeal decision in Pennell v Payne that determination of the headlease by notice also determines a sublease (see, for example, the decision of the House of Lords in Barrett v Morgan. The determination of the headlease would also mean that a sub-licence would be terminated. PW & Co v Milton Gate Investments Ltd noted that a lease creates an interest in land, and where the tenant

Where it has been intimated that a claim will be made against the deceased's estate the executors of the estate are unlikely to be willing to distribute the estate until this has been resolved. One possible claim is where the claimant alleges that they entered into an oral contract with the deceased reallocating the estate, or that the deceased promised that he would change his Will to reflect that promise/representation and so is bound by proprietary estoppel. The following Practice Note: Probate actions—Will contracts

The Law Society’s guidance on conditional fee agreements (CFAs) states that a contract entered into with a minor is not binding unless it is for ‘necessaries’. Arguably, legal services could fall into that bracket. Beneficial contracts of service can be deemed to fall within the category of ‘necessaries’, enabling minors to pursue employment, for example. If it is correct that legal services can fall into the category of ‘necessaries’, then a CFA entered into with a minor in their name through their litigation friend (signing on behalf of the minor) would bind the minor once

A lease is a contact made between the landlord and the tenant, and, as with any contract, its terms can be varied by agreement. Such variations should be by deed if the lease is made by deed, in order to comply with the requirements of the Law of Property Act 1925 and the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989. Most terms of a lease are amenable to variation, but there are some circumstances in which a purported variation will instead take effect as a surrender and re-grant of the lease.

It is assumed that although the formalities for a deed were not satisfied, the lease is a written contract, contains all the key terms and is signed by the parties. So satisfies the requirements of section 2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 and is not void. Is it an equitable lease? Generally, a lease must be made by deed to take effect in law unless it: • takes effect in possession • is for a term of three years or less, and • is at the best rent

There is, on the face of it, nothing to prevent an employer giving notice of termination, in accordance with statute and the contract of employment, to an employee who is on furlough under the coronavirus (COVID-19) job retention scheme (CJRS). See Practice Notes: • Statutory minimum notice • Contractual notice The CJRS is designed to support employers whose operations have been severely affected by coronavirus. To date, information on the CJRS has been provided in the form of: • guidance for employers • guidance for employees  For information on which employees are covered by the scheme, see Practice Note: Coronavirus Job

The terms governing the payment of an introduction fee by a client to a recruitment agency, and the circumstances in which such a fee must be refunded, are likely to be set out in a contract between the recruitment agency and the client. Accordingly, the extent to which a client can request a refund of the introduction fee will be governed by the express provisions of the relevant agreement. For example, see Precedent: Terms and conditions for introduction of candidates for vacancies by an employment agency (and the accompanying Drafting Notes). Clause 4.9 of this template agreement

This Q&A appears to involve an undisclosed principal; that is, a principal who is not known by the third party to be connected with a particular transaction made between the third party and the principal’s agent. As between that principal and the agent: • they should have agreed to the existence of an agency relationship, and • in entering into the contract with the third party, the agent must have intended to do so on the principal’s behalf For the purpose of this Q&A it is assumed that: • the tenant did not know of B’s connection with the tenancy (although the payment