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

Whether a covenant has been breached will depend upon the specific circumstances and the particular wording of the lease covenant. Assigning underletting, parting with or sharing possession Assignment A covenant 'not to assign' or 'not to assign or otherwise part with' the premises is only broken by a legal assignment for the entire residue of the term (Gentle v Faulkner). Therefore, if an occupant is given exclusive possession but there is no legal assignment for the entire term the covenant would not be broken. See Commentary: Covenants against assignment or parting with possession: Hill and Redman's Law of Landlord and Tenant [1] . Underletting A covenant against underletting is broken whenever the tenant parts

Although an assignment of a tenancy must be by deed, the licence to assign granted by the landlord is not required to be by deed, unless the lease

Any notice required or authorised to be served or given under the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925) must be in writing. In relation to the location and manner of service of any notices, LPA 1925, s 196(3) and (4) provide: ‘(3) Any notice required or authorised by this Act to be served shall be sufficiently served if it is left at the last-known place of abode or business in the United Kingdom of the lessee, lessor, mortgagee, mortgagor, or other person to be served, or, in case of a notice required or authorised to be served on a lessee or mortgagor,

It has been assumed that there is no term in the lease specifying the time at which the tenant must give up vacant possession of the property when the lease expires through efflux of time. Most modern leases contain an express covenant on the part of the tenant to yield up possession of the property on the determination of the term. However, in the absence of such an express covenant or other express stipulation,