The right to buy Part V of the Housing Act 1985 (HA 1985) makes provision for a secure tenant to have the right to buy. The ‘right to buy’ is defined in HA 1985, s 118 as the right by the tenant: ‘…(i) if the dwelling-house where they live is a house and the landlord owns the freehold of it, to acquire the freehold; or (ii) if the landlord does not own the freehold or if the dwelling-house is a flat, to be granted a lease of the dwelling-house.’ The term of the lease to be granted Pursuant to HA 1985, s 139, where a lease is granted under the right to buy, the grant of the lease must conform with HA 1985, Sch 6 Pt I and HA 1985, Sch

A qualifying tenant who has been the registered owner of a flat for two years may extend their lease pursuant to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993). This process begins with the service of a section 42 notice, which is registerable under the Land Registration Act 2002 as if it were an estate contract. See Practice Note: Guide to lease extensions of flats under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. Where a tenant has served two section 42 notices, presumably the second has been served without prejudice to the validity of the first. If in fact the first section 42 notice is considered a valid notice, then the second notice will accordingly not itself be a valid

This Q&A considers whether it is necessary to serve a notice to quit as a precursor to possession proceedings, in circumstances where the tenant has departed, but has failed to give the landlord vacant possession. Where a tenancy has been lawfully determined, the tenant’s partner will have no right to remain in occupation of the property. They are, in effect, a trespasser unless the landlord could be said to have granted the occupier a continuing licence in the circumstances. As the former tenant has not given the landlord vacant possession at the determination of the tenancy, and the property is residential, it will be necessary to obtain a court order for possession in order to comply with the terms of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. It does

The Practice Note: Guide to lease extensions of flats under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 explains that leasehold extension can be acquired under one lease for a block where

In the absence of agreement between the parties, the terms of a renewal lease (other than premises, duration and rent) will be determined by the court pursuant to section 35 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954). This provides that in making such a determination, the court shall have regard to the terms of the current tenancy and all relevant circumstances. As established in the House of Lords case of O’May

Co-ownership Our Practice Note: Buying property from a sole surviving co-owner sets out the rules as to how the legal and equitable ownership to property may be held jointly. In brief, where property is purchased in the joint names of two or more co-owners a statutory ‘trust of land’ arises under Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, s 1. The legal estate must be held by the co-owner trustees as joint tenants and a legal joint tenancy cannot be severed. The equitable interest can be held as tenants in common, so where there are two legal joint tenants who are equitable

By section 60 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993), a tenant seeking a lease extension (by grant of a new lease) is made liable for certain costs incurred by any ‘relevant person’. A ‘relevant person’ means the landlord, any other landlord (as defined by LRHUDA 1993, s 40(4)) or any third party to the tenant's lease. ‘Third party’ means any person who is a party to the lease apart from the tenant under the lease and their immediate landlord. This would therefore include, for example, a management company that is a party to the lease. Subject to

On the grant of a lease stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is due in respect of the net present value of the rent payable over the term of the lease (and any premium) (sections 55–56 of and Schedule 5 to the Finance Act 2003 (FA 2003)). Rent is not specifically defined in the SDLT legislation.

Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) provides security of tenure in respect of business tenancies that have not been excluded from its operation, meaning that where a lease would otherwise expire by effluxion of time the lease is automatically extended by operation of law unless terminated in accordance with LTA 1954. Further, either the landlord or the tenant may apply to the court for an order for the grant of a new tenancy where either the landlord has given a notice under LTA 1954, s 25 to terminate the tenancy or the tenant has made a request for a new tenancy

Some breaches are seen as continuing breaches and some are once and for all breaches. The significance of whether a breach is of a once and for all or continuing nature is that if a landlord waives their right to forfeit in respect of a once and for all breach, it will have permanently lost its right to forfeit in respect of that breach. However, if a landlord waives their right in respect of a continuing breach,

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is only required when a building is constructed, sold or rented out. For the purposes of the regulations, a building is defined as ‘a roofed construction having walls, for which energy is used to condition the indoor climate, and a reference to a building includes a reference to part of a building which has been designed or altered to be used separately’. For a building to fall within the requirement for an EPC it must have a roof and a wall and use energy to condition the indoor climate. Services considered to condition the indoor climate are the following fixed services: heating, mechanical ventilation or air conditioning. Although the provision of hot water is a fixed building service, it does not condition the indoor environment and would not, therefore, be a trigger for an EPC. The same argument applies to electric lighting. Where a building is expected to have heating, mechanical ventilation or air

There are a significant number of authorities on what constitutes repair (see Practice Note: What is the appropriate standard of repair?). In summary, a covenant to repair and keep in repair requires the tenant to undertake work that, having regard to the age, character and locality of the premises, would make it reasonably fit for occupation by a reasonably minded incoming tenant of the class who would be likely to take it, taking a lease on the same terms as the actual lease. The premises need not be kept in