Insolvency of a tenant can cause various difficulties for a landlord. Depending upon the status of an insolvent company, the landlord may have difficulties in obtaining possession particularly where a Company Voluntary Arrangement is entered into. It is not clear in this scenario what has happened to company A, whether it has been liquidated, or an administrator appointed, or whether there has been a ‘pre-pack’ administration with the assets being sold on to company B. It may be that the latter is the most likely option since it appears that the directors

If the head lease is forfeited, what happens to the AST? Where a head lease which is subject to a lawfully granted assured (including an assured shorthold) tenancy comes to an end, the assured tenancy remains in place by virtue of section 18(1) of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988). The superior landlord becomes the direct landlord of the assured tenant. The provision does not apply if the superior landlord interest is held by an entity that cannot grant an assured tenancy (HA 1988, Sch 1—for example a government department or local authority, among various others). Does the superior

Where a dwelling house let to an individual or individuals is occupied by them as their only or principal home, it will ordinarily be an assured shorthold tenancy (AST). However, where the tenant does not occupy the property as their only or principal home, the tenancy will not be an AST, but rather will be a contractual tenancy. Where the term of the contractual tenancy has expired, but the tenant continues to occupy the property (or in this scenario, properties) and rent is accepted from

The starting point is that for as long as the tenancy continues, then absent the permission of the tenant or the exercise of a power under the lease, any attempt on the part of the landlord to gain access will amount to a trespass. Often a lease will include a clause which entitles the landlord to inspect the property for the purposes of seeing whether there is disrepair or, having identified that there is some, entering to attend to it. In the present case, the landlord seems to want to gain access solely for the purpose of seeing

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012), SI 2012/632 apply to all non-domestic properties and the common parts of domestic premises. Residential properties can be subject to the CAR 2012, SI 2012/632 ‘duty to manage’ obligations (survey, register, management plan etc) if asbestos is present in communal areas of flats such as lifts or there are converted properties with asbestos (see: HSE Approved Code of Practice (ACOP)—paras 89–90): ‘89 The duty does not apply to domestic premises such as private houses. However, the duty does apply to the “common parts” of multi–occupancy domestic premises, such as purpose-built flats or houses converted into flats. The common parts of such domestic premises might include foyers, corridors, lifts and lift shafts, staircases,

This Q&A assumes that the property is in England. It is not known how long the current tenant (subtenant’s) lease is, nor the length of the intermediate tenancies. Any lawful subtenant may acquire the freehold or an extended lease of a house under LRA 1967, Sch 1, regardless of the number of intermediate tenancies (including reversionary tenancies) which lie between the subtenant and the freeholder, by serving notice of claim (under

This question raises the distinction between the landlord and the right to manage (RTM) company once the RTM under Part 2 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (CLRA 2002) has been exercised. CLRA 2002, Pt 2 gives certain leaseholders the right to acquire the RTM the block in which their flats are situated. Essentially, there must be two or more lessees holding leases granted for more than 21 years of residential flats, provided that those lessees hold the leases of not less than 2/3 of the total number of flats (CLRA 2002, ss 72, 75–76 and 112). The RTM is acquired through the RTM company (CLRA 2002, s 71). Once the right has been acquired by the RTM

The statutory provisions found in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA 1985) regulating service charges apply to all dwellings and cover all residential leases, except where LTA 1985, s 26 applies. Section 26 provides for an exception in the case of tenants of certain public authorities. Under LTA 1985 a tenant may be entitled to withhold payment of service charge if any one of the following applies: • demand for payment was not made within 18 months of the relevant costs being incurred and the tenant had not been notified within that period that he would be liable to contribute to them • the demand was not accompanied by a summary of the tenant's rights and obligations in relation to service charge • the landlord has failed to supply the tenant with a statement

A notice served under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) does not operate to end an assured shorthold tenancy (AST). It merely gives the landlord the right to begin court proceedings to obtain an order which, when executed, will end the tenancy. Therefore, in the normal course of events, when

Where goods are left behind by a tenant following a lease coming to an end, unless there are express provisions in the lease dealing with ownership and power of disposal, the landlord will become an involuntary bailee of the items. To avoid a claim for conversion or wrongful interference with goods if the items are sold, damaged or disposed of, the landlord should follow the procedures set out in the Torts (interference with Goods) Act 1977. This involves

It is to be assumed that the landlord has brought proceedings seeking forfeiture of the lease for non-payment of rent. As the claim has been successful, it is to be assumed that the lease contained a provision permitting re-entry in the event of non-payment of rent and that the unpaid rent was demanded or section 210 of the Common Law Procedure Act 1852 applies and there was at least six months’ rent outstanding and there is insufficient distress to be found on the property to cover the unpaid rent, in which case, the need for a demand

This Q&A raises the issue of how a landlord can recover costs relying on a clause in the lease when taking proceedings for rent arrears. The Court of Appeal held in Macleish v Littlestone that 'It is well settled that when exercising discretion as to the basis of assessment of costs under the CPR, the court should normally do so in a way which corresponds