‘Any part of demised premises which has been justifiably removed from the premises by a tenant in accordance with the tenant’s obligation to repair the premises, and which becomes a chattel having substantial value, vests in the landlord.’
WLR Daily, 11th September 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘In Freifeld v West Kensington Court Limited [2015] EWCA Civ 806, long-lessees had deliberately granted a future sub-lease of a commercial unit to a Chinese restaurant in breach of their alienation covenant not to sublet without landlord’s consent. An initial application for relief from forfeiture failed, because the tenants had wilfully breached their alienation covenant, and because there was an extensive history of neglectful management by the tenants of their obligations under the headlease. The judge concluded that the relationship between the tenants and their landlord had become dysfunctional and that it should not be re-imposed on the landlord by the grant of relief to the tenants.’
Full story
Tanfield Chambers, 21st August 2015
Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk
‘Joint tenancy has been the only means of ownership of property at law since the Law of Property Act 1925 relegated tenancy in common to equitable ownership only. Despite the 90 years which have elapsed, joint ownership as it impacts on day to day management of residential leasehold property is not always understood. It is not uncommon, on an enfranchisement of a terraced house converted into two flats, for the freehold to be acquired by the two lessees jointly. What then? Must both decide on service charge expenditure together? What happens if one of the two refuses to join in, can the other sue? What if one of the two breaches their lease as leaseholder? These are issues which have often arisen in cases I have dealt with. The answers lie in an analysis of the trust law implications of joint ownership.’
Tanfield Chambers, 18th August 2015
Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk
‘Gateway (Leeds) Management Ltd v (1) Naghash (2) Shamsizadeh [2015] UKUT 333 (LC). If a head leaseholder, or managing company passes on as a service charge, rent charged by a freeholder for property in order to provide services, does this amount to a variable service charge for the purposes of s.18 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and so only payable if the rent costs were reasonably incurred and if the services or works to which they relate were of a reasonable standard?’
Nearly Legal, 8th August 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Woolway (Valuation Officer) v Mazars LLP [2015] UKSC 53; [2015] WLR (D) 353
‘Where a business’s offices were on two separate floors of an office block, the communication between the two being solely by way of the block’s communal lift, those two floors comprised two separate hereditaments for the purposes of non-domestic rating.’
WLR Daily, 29th July 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
If a head leaseholder, or managing company passes on as a service charge, rent charged by a freeholder for property in order to provide services, does this amount to a variable service charge for the purposes of s.18 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and so only payable if the rent costs were reasonably incurred and if the services or works to which they relate were of a reasonable standard?
Nearly Legal, 9th August 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A tenant who “wilfully” breached the conditions of his lease by sub-letting to an obnoxious sub-tenant without the consent of the ultimate landlord should not be forced to forfeit the lease immediately, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’
Full story
OUT-LAW.com, 5th August 2015
Source: www.out-law.com
‘In this case, the Supreme Court considered to what extent lessees could escape what appeared to be a very bad bargain indeed. The crux of the case was: to what extent can commercial common sense defeat a contractual provision which defies it?”
Hardwicke Chambers, 24th July 2015
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
‘Tenants of a holiday park will ultimately be obliged to pay over £1m a year per chalet, after the Supreme Court endorsed leases in which the service charge increases by 10% a year – regardless of the actual costs of providing those services.
Henderson Chambers, 16th June 2015
Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk
‘As everyone knows, the court, in the case of a business lease with security of tenure, and subject to certain grounds for refusal, can order the grant of a new business for a term of up to 15 years. The new lease normally now starts from the date of the court order. However there may be a gap between the expiry of the original lease and the start of, or as the case may be, the refusal of a new lease, a gap that may be significant in the case of a hotly contested case. During this interim period, the court can order that the tenant pay an interim rent to the landlord.’
New Square Chambers, 29th July 2015
Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk
Southward Housing Co-operative Ltd v Walker and others [2015] EWHC 1615 (Ch); [2015] WLR (D) 246
‘The rule that it was beyond the power of the landlord and the tenant to create a term which was uncertain did not depend for its application on the parties’ intentions; but might be disapplied where those intentions and fundamental aspects of their agreement would be confounded by it.’
WLR Daily, 8th June 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court has handed down judgment in Arnold v. Britton & Ors. [2015] U. K. S. C. 36, concerning the construction of service charge clauses for holiday chalets in Oxwich Bay, South Wales (pictured). In so doing, it has taken the opportunity to reiterate and re-emphasise some fundamental principles of contractual interpretation.’
36 Bedford Row Property Blog, 11th June 2015
Source: www.36property.co.uk
‘Lease provisions that would ultimately increase service charges payable by the tenants of a number of holiday homes near Swansea to more than £1 million a year should be allowed to stand, the UK’s highest court has ruled.’
Full story
OUT-LAW.com, 11th June 2015
Source: www.out-law.com
‘Last time this column discussed the changes introduced to leasehold tenure in Scotland. Nicola Muir examined the long-term package of reforms designed to bring about the demise of the feudal and leasehold system north of the border. To recap, Scotland is about to implement the changes introduced by the Long Leases (Scotland) Act 2012, which follows the imposition in 1974 of a 20 year limit on the term of any new residential lease and the abolition of the feudal system of property ownership in 2004. In 2000 a limit of 175 years was imposed on the term of commercial leases. The final stage of reforms under the 2012 Act will convert qualifying leases into ownership. ‘
Tanfield Chambers, 20th March 2015
Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk
‘Scott v. Southern Pacific Mortgages Ltd, in which the Supreme Court gave judgment on 22nd October 2014, has finally determined, in favour of the mortgagees, the question of priority between home owners, who had sold their homes under sale and leaseback schemes after getting into financial difficulties in return for the grant of a tenancy from the purchaser, and the mortgagees who provided the finances for the purchases. In order for the home owners’ unregistered interests to override a registered disposition under the Land Registration Act 2002, the interest had to be a proprietary interest, but prior to acquiring the legal estate a purchaser could not grant equitable rights of a proprietary character, as opposed to personal rights.’
Full story (PDF)
Radcliffe Chambers, 10th February 2015
Source: www.radcliffechambers.com
‘The distinction between a repair and an improvement when a landlord carries out works to a property is often problematic. The volume and age of reported cases on this point shows this is not a recent problem.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 9th March 2015
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
‘In the absence of agreement, the terms of any new lease to be granted under the provisions of Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 are to be determined by the court in accordance with sections 32 to 35 of that 1954.’
Full story (PDF)
New Square Chambers, February 2015
Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has approved arrangements allowing companies within the Hilton group to reassign leases between themselves without the landlord losing the benefit of a guarantee granted by the parent company.’
OUT-LAW.com, 20th January 2015
Source: www.out-law.com
‘Armes v Wheel Property Co Ltd, Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court, 17 May 2013
Claimant had been the protected tenant of a two bed flat in a Victorian terrace conversion for 30 years. Current rent was £191 per week.’
NearlyLegal, 18th January 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘As the average lease length decreases, a review of dilapidations liability by the Court of Appeal is timely. Dilapidations are the repair works which have not been undertaken by the tenant, in breach of the terms of the lease.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 12th January 2015
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
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