Where a lease with the protection of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) expires, the tenancy nevertheless continues under LTA 1954, s 24. Where the parties have agreed on the grant of a new lease, but the terms of that lease (including as to the date on which the term starts and from which rent will be

Is rent payable at all, during the statutory continuation tenancy and is it payable at the reviewed level or as interim rent under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954? We cannot locate any authority specifically on this point, and it will depend upon the exact wording of the lease, but the likely effect of a rent review being expressed to be 'for the last two days of the lease' (which appears to be another way of

It is increasingly common for the obligation of a lessee as regards the condition of demised premises to be fixed by reference to a schedule recording the state of affairs at the commencement date. The lessee will then be obliged to maintain it to that standard, ensuring that it is returned in that same condition when the term expires. In most cases, it will be the landlord’s surveyor who draws up the schedule. The prudent tenant will clearly wish to ensure that they are satisfied that it accurately records the condition at the commencement

Holding over Tenancies to which the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) applies, that is to say business tenancies, are continued automatically after the effluxion of the fixed-term until they are brought to an end by a particular notice by either the landlord or tenant, or until the occurrence of certain other contingencies (for example, forfeiture). LTA 1954, s 24(1) provides that when the fixed-term expires, in the absence of any notice by either party the old tenancy continues. The statutory continuation of the tenancy keeps the old tenancy terms in place but varies the mode of determination. No new tenancy is created. All of the terms and conditions of

A change in the trustees will not automatically change the ownership of the registered title, although where section 40 of the Trustee Act 1925 (TA 1925) applies, it will be sufficient to vest title to the land in the new or continuing trustees. Assuming the museum is a charitable institution, section 334 of the Charities Act 2011 (CA 2011) may apply. Under this provision, a charity may, if its trusts permit, appoint and remove trustees by resolution of a meeting of the charity trustees, members or other persons (as the case may be). A memorandum signed at the meeting is sufficient

In the vast majority of cases in respect of rent on an ‘open market basis’, the value of the same will be arrived at through the consideration of comparable transactions. This scenario deals with a case in which

In answering this Q&A, we have referred to Practice Note: Liability for business rates. The starting point is that the occupier of the premises is liable for business rates under section 43 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (LGFA 1988). This means that the tenant is liable for the period for which they are in ‘actual possession’. See Commentary: Necessary ingredients of rateable occupation: Halsbury's Laws of England [61]. Assuming that the tenant went out of occupation in 2009, the property then became

We cannot find any authority that deals with this point. However, on the basis that the clause provides for the landlord giving the tenant one month’s notice to start works and three months’ notice to complete them, and there are not three months left in the term, there is a risk that the clause may not be enforceable, as the tenant has no right to remain on the premises after the end of the term in order to complete the works. A similar issue

Where a rent review clause has been operated it is common for a lease to provide that the parties should enter into a memorandum for the purpose of recording the outcome of the process. Even if the lease does not require a memorandum, the parties are likely to want (and would be well-advised) to have a record of the result, for future reference. A variation to the terms of a contract (including a lease) may have the effect of releasing any guarantor, unless that guarantor consents to it (Holme v Brunskill). As we point out in Practice Note: Variations and guarantors, if the review has followed the procedure set out in the lease, it is unlikely that the review and

Defective premises There are a number of considerations the landlord must take into account when determining his liability. Firstly, the landlord, under the Defective Premises Act 1972 (DPA 1972) owes a duty of care to all persons who might reasonably be expected to be affected by defects in the state of the premises to take reasonable care to see that they are safe from: • personal injury, or • from damage to their property caused by 'a relevant defect' The duty is to take reasonable care in all the circumstances, as with the common duty of care and the ordinary law of negligence. Though DPA 1972 is generally more relevant to third parties (trespassers, visitors, etc) as tenants' contractual remedies tend to be more extensive

On dissolution of a company, all freehold and leasehold property, together with all rights vested in, or held on trust for, the company immediately before dissolution are deemed to be bona vacantia and vest in the Crown (or in the relevant Duchy). This includes leasehold property, but not property held by the company on trust for any other person. See Practice Note: Bona vacantia and company property. The Crown is not obliged to deal with property vested in it as bona vacantia in any particular way. It has

Where works have been carried out to a long residential lease so as to alter the layout of the property, for example due to an extension or a conversion, it will usually be advisable to vary the lease by way of a deed of variation so as to include a new plan. The reason for this is that if the leaseholder intends to sell their interest at a later date, difficulties may arise as the plan held by the Land Registry does not match the revised layout of the property. However, this is not a requirement and any such problems can usually be dealt with