Irritancy meaning

This Checklist This Checklist sets out the key questions for landlords, tenants and subtenants when a tenant grants a sublease of commercial premises in Scotland. Matters to consider include: restrictions on subletting financial strength of the subtenant form of landlord consent requirements for landlord consent form of sublease irritancy protection agreements In this Checklist, the parties are referred to as landlord, principal tenant and subtenant. Although a sublease is granted by a party that is itself a tenant (the principal tenant), it is regulated by the same principles that apply to leases generally. The sublease may cover the whole of the premises under the principal lease, or only a part, and it may run for all or part of the remaining term of the principal lease. The principal tenant must continue to fulfil its duties under the head lease, but these obligations are typically flowed down to the subtenant through the sublease. This creates a chain of...

In this issue: Statutory compliance Property in Wales Property development Environment, energy and buildings Property management Residential property Transferring property Easements, right and covenants Property taxes Property in Scotland Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New Q&As Statutory compliance Court of Appeal upholds retrospective leaseholder protections In Adriatic Land 5 Ltd v Long Leaseholders at Hippersley Point (Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government, intervening) [2025] EWCA Civ 856, the Court of Appeal, by a majority, ruled that paragraph 9 of Schedule 8 to the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) applies retrospectively to stop the recovery of service charges covering legal and professional fees tied to safety defect liabilities under qualifying leases where those liabilities arose before 28 June 2022 (the date the relevant BSA 2022 provisions commenced). The court’s reasoning turned on the legislative intention to shield leaseholders from heavy...

In this issue: Key developments and horizon scanning Leasing property Residential property Property management Transferring property Easements, rights and covenants Commercial real estate finance Property taxes Property in Wales Property in Scotland Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers Key developments and horizon scanning Pre-legislative scrutiny of draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee (the Committee) has opened a pre-legislative scrutiny inquiry into the Government’s draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, released on 27 January 2026. It has set out the inquiry’s terms of reference and is inviting written evidence up to 25 February 2026, with oral evidence sessions due to commence in March 2026. The review will consider whether the draft Bill fulfils the Government’s policy aims, including its pledge to ‘bring the feudal leasehold system to an end’, assess how leaseholders’ rights are...

In this issue: Key developments and horizon scanning Residential tenancies Electronic communications Service charges Easements and covenants Disputes and remedies Enforcing security and property insolvency Property disputes in Scotland Additional Property Disputes updates LexTalk® Property Disputes: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Key developments and horizon scanning Updates on draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill was unveiled on 27 January 2026. Its core aim is to dismantle the feudal leasehold regime by revitalising and expanding commonhold, while prohibiting leasehold tenure for most newly built flats. For further insight, see: News Analysis: Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill—the demise of the long leasehold flat, abolition of residential ground rent and new ways for landlords to redress tenant breaches on long leases, by Alexandra Selka, Jasmine Sherr, Rachel Katz, Victoria Duxbury, Alexandra Holloway and...

Practice Note This Practice Note examines pre-action behaviour in ordinary and commercial civil disputes in Scotland. For guidance on: pre-action steps in Scottish personal injury matters, see Practice Note: The Scottish Personal Injury Pre-Action Protocol other issues to weigh before raising a civil claim in a Scottish court, and how to commence and advance a claim, see Scottish DR: prescription and limitation—overview and Scottish DR: case management and evidence—overview respectively, which lead to more detailed guidance the closest comparable process in England and Wales, see Pre-action: general—overview and Pre-action protocols—overview, which in turn link to fuller guidance on various aspects of pre-action conduct in England and Wales Note: this Practice Note does not provide guidance on pre-action requirements in ordinary actions that are partly governed by statute; for example, where a lender seeks to enforce a qualifying standard security under the Conveyancing and Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act 1970, or where a landlord intends to evict a former tenant after irritancy...

Main remedies in Scottish landlord and tenant disputes The principal remedies available in the context of landlord and tenant disputes in Scotland are: Interdict Specific implement Payment action Damages action Rescission Retention of rent Irritancy Hypothec Action for recovery of heritable property Interdict Interdict is a court remedy used to restrain an actual or threatened breach of contract by a party; for example, a landlord may seek it to stop a tenant using the premises for a purpose other than that for which it is let. It is the counterpart of the English remedy of injunction. An interdict can be obtained in the Court of Session (by petition or summons, see: Introduction: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia [88]) or in the sheriff court (by initial writ, see: Form of writ: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia [382]). If brought in the sheriff court, proceedings must be raised where the defender is domiciled or where the alleged wrong is occurring....

What effect does insolvency have on the operation of a lease? This Practice Note explores how insolvency influences the day-to-day operation of a lease and addresses the principal concerns that commonly emerge when an insolvency practitioner (IP) becomes involved in the landlord and tenant relationship for commercial premises... Types of insolvency process The relevant insolvency procedure is determined by the tenant’s location (for a corporate entity, its registered office), rather than the situs of the leased property. For the purposes of this Practice Note, it is assumed that the landlord and tenant are both based in Scotland and that Scots law governs the lease. The main formal insolvency procedures in Scotland are summarised below... Corporate Administration Administration offers a framework designed to enable the rescue of an insolvent company. An administrator is appointed and, while the company remains in existence, it acts through that administrator. Appointment can be made by an administrative order or, on an out of court basis, by the holder of a...

Executive summary of material issues We highlight the following matters: [ insert material issue or area of concern ]; [ insert material issue or area of concern ] 1 Particulars 1.1 Date and parties A lease dated [ insert date of lease ] between [ insert details of the original parties to the lease ] [ (the ‘Lease’); OR as varied by [ insert document name ] (the ‘Lease’) [ . The deed altered the Lease as follows: [ insert details of provisions varied ] ] ] . 1.2 Back letters [ [ None disclosed. ] OR The Tenant has the benefit of a back letter dated [ insert date and details of the terms of the side letter ]. ] [ You will be bound by the terms of the back letter. OR The back letter is personal to the Seller and you will not be bound by it following completion (unless you continue to act in...