Much of the dilapidations claim relates to items installed by A before the grant of the sublease to B and which were not reinstated at the end of the term of the headlease. It is assumed that the property is commercial. It is also assumed that the headlease and sublease were on standard commercial terms with a full repairing and insuring covenant and are not subject to schedules of condition and that any required notices to reinstate were given. It is not clear whether the sublease to B was a sublease of whole, on what basis the freeholder granted a lease to B while

A right of light is an easement. It is a right enjoyed in respect of a building for it to receive the natural light that passes over someone else’s land and then enters through defined apertures (such as windows or skylights) in that building. The right of light entitles the beneficiary to receive sufficient natural light so that the rooms served by apertures can be used for their ordinary purpose (Colls v Home & Colonial Stores Ltd). As with other easements, a right of light can come to an end as a result of ‘abandonment’. There are other ways in which rights

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) 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 make a ‘relevant disposal’. The landlord is required to serve a notice under LTA 1987, s 5 before making the disposal, allowing the qualifying tenants to exercise the right. For details of when the right applies, see Practice Note: Tenants' right of first refusal—Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. LTA 1987, s 4(2)(i) provides that, among the various other exceptions, a relevant disposal does not include 'a disposal in pursuance of a contract, option or right of pre-emption binding on the landlord'. In

It is not unusual that, where a freeholder retains the freehold interest of a building but demises leases of various flats for lengthy periods of time, that, over time, there is a blurring of the parties’ various rights and responsibilities. An example of that is a leaseholder improving their part of the building such as, in this scenario, the replacement of balustrades and tiling to a substantially better quality. A lease will often provide that a leaseholder can make such improvements even to aspects of the property that are not demised in their leases (such as, for example, exterior walls)

The seller’s liability will depend on the terms of the contract. If the contract provides for a sale with vacant possession, then the seller will be in breach if the tenant is still in occupation on completion. The obligation to give vacant possession becomes operable on completion and remains actionable after completion (regardless of whether the contract contains a non-merger clause). See Practice Notes: Vacant possession and Liability for breach of property contract after completion. If

This Q&A raises two difficult aspects of adverse possession. First, the effect of the person in possession being a tenant is relevant. Second the effect of a corporate paper title owner being dissolved is under consideration. Before the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002) where a tenant went into adverse possession of land that adjoined his demise there was a

A surrender of a lease may be implied, or it may occur by operation of law. This situation arises whenever the landlord and the tenant act in a manner that is inconsistent with the continued existence of the lease. Examples of such surrenders include: • the landlord granting a new lease of the same premises to the existing tenant • the tenant giving up possession of the premises (eg by returning the keys to the landlord and vacating) and the landlord either going back into possession of the premises or granting a new lease to a new tenant with the original tenant’s actual or presumed consent • the landlord and the tenant agreeing to

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) provides certain qualifying tenants of properties with a right of first refusal. This means that if their landlord is seeking to dispose of its interest in the property (whether

The rule against perpetuities exists to prevent property from being tied up indefinitely. There are three elements: • the rule against remoteness of vesting, which dictates that a future trust interest in property must be certain of vesting in the beneficiary within the perpetuity period • the rule against inalienability, which dictates that private (ie non-charitable) purpose trusts cannot last indefinitely • the rule against excessive accumulations, which dictates that trustees cannot accumulate income beyond the accumulation period For

The fact that the landlord may have previously granted tenants in the same block lease extensions at a nil premium does not mean the landlord can be required to grant the tenant a lease extension at a nil premium. However, assuming the tenant is entitled to claim a statutory lease extension (see below), there is a statutory mechanism for calculating the premium. The landlord cannot demand a premium of £115,000 if this is not the premium to which the landlord is entitled under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993). The tenant will

Notice to repair In the event that a landlord decides that an interim damages claim or forfeiture are not appropriate remedies to deal with a tenant’s failure to comply with their repairing obligation, it may decide instead to exercise any right in the lease to undertake the works itself and recoup the costs as a debt claim. There is no implied right to re-enter premises to carry out repairs in circumstances where the tenant is in breach of their repairing obligations. Therefore, the landlord can only use this remedy if there is an express right to gain access and undertake the repairs, often referred to as a 'Jervis and Harris' clause. The express provision is likely to set out a process

Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993), the concept of the 'competent landlord' is designed to give leaseholders one landlord with whom they can interact in order to gain the full length of their lease extension. A lease extension for a term beyond the end of an intermediate lease requires the deemed surrender and regrant of the intermediate