Legal Q&A

Possession claims following the standard procedure Possession claims brought via the standard route (as opposed to the accelerated route) permit a landlord, under CPR PD 55A, para 1.7, to add a further claim within the possession action for rent arrears or damages. One claim form may cover every head of claim, and both the rent arrears element and the possession claim can be determined together in the same proceedings. However, where the landlord opts for the accelerated route for possession, the claim must be limited to possession alone and cannot include any additional relief, such as rent arrears or damages, in accordance with CPR 55.12......

Accelerated possession proceedings Accelerated possession proceedings apply to dwellings let on an assured shorthold tenancy where the requirements in CPR PD 55.12(1) are fulfilled. In substance, there must be a written tenancy agreement and a notice served under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 ( HA 1988). The claim is commenced using Claim Form N5B, which should set out all necessary particulars and be lodged with the documents it specifies, chiefly: the written tenancy agreement the section 21 notice under HA 1988 Where the route is properly followed, the claimant will frequently be entitled to a possession order without the need for a hearing, and viable defences for the defendant are uncommon. See Practice Note: Assured and assured shorthold tenancies—terminating. We are not aware, within our resources, of any authority that directly considers a situation where a landlord cannot produce evidence of a copy of the...

If a landlord serves a valid section 25 notice, and neither the landlord nor the tenant make an application for a fresh tenancy, the lease ends on the date stated in that section 25 notice, as specified therein. After that date, the tenant has no lawful right to remain in occupation of the premises, and the landlord is entitled to possession. Accordingly, a landlord should proceed with great care if the tenant continues in occupation. No money should be requested or accepted from the tenant after the termination date, nor should the landlord behave in any way whatsoever that might imply the grant of a new tenancy, or be estopped from denying the existence of a new tenancy......

Requirements for a section 21 notice served in respect of a tenancy agreement entered into before 1 October 2015 Throughout the three-year transitional window under section 41 of the Deregulation Act 2015 (ie 1 October 2015–30 September 2018), the prescribed format of the notice, together with any other conditions for serving a valid section 21 notice for tenancies agreed before 1 October 2015, remain unchanged and continue to apply as they did......

Succession On the death of a Rent Act 1977 tenant, family members other than a spouse may take over the occupation, but only as assured tenants paying a market rent, and only if they had been living in the dwelling-house for at least two years before the tenant’s death. Under Schedule 1, paragraph 3: where paragraph 2 does not apply, a person who was a member of the original tenant’s family and was residing with him in the dwelling-house at the time of, and for the period of two years immediately before, his death shall, after his death, be entitled to an assured tenancy of the dwelling-house by succession. If more than one such person qualifies, the successor is to be identified by agreement between them or, in default of agreement, by the county court... Land let under separate licence It should be...

This Q& A considers the requirements in order to serve a valid section 21 notice pursuant to the Housing Act 1988 in circumstances where a six-month fixed term tenancy commenced in 2013 and, thereafter, became a statutory periodic tenancy. The obligations to be complied with when giving a section 21 notice to a tenant became markedly more onerous in practice following the coming into force of the Deregulation Act 2015 ( DA 2015) together with the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements ( England) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/1646. Notably, DA 2015 stipulates that, for any tenancy starting on or after 1 October 2015 (renewals included), the landlord must supply the tenant with an energy performance certificate and a gas safety certificate before the tenancy begins as a prerequisite. On the face of it, the landlord here arguably appears able to issue a valid...

In accordance with section 215(2A) of the Housing Act 2004 ( HA 2004), a landlord may issue a section 21 notice where the deposit is repaid in full, or with deductions mutually agreed by both the landlord and the tenant concerned......

This Q& A proceeds on the basis that the query concerns a tenancy in England. Section 21 notice Within 30 days of receiving a rent deposit, the landlord must satisfy the initial obligations of the tenancy deposit scheme ( TDS) by supplying the tenant, and any person who pays the deposit for the tenant (i.e. the ‘relevant person’), with the prescribed details about the TDS, the deposit, and the assured shorthold tenancy ( AST) (see section 213(3)–(6) of the Housing Act 2004 ( HA 2004), as amended, and Practice Note: Tenancy deposit schemes). Non‑compliance may carry potential consequences indeed......

Form LTBT1 Form LTBT1 is prescribed by the Regulatory Reform ( Business Tenancies) ( England and Wales) Order 2003, SI 2003/3096 (the Order). Where the parties intend to contract out of, or exclude, sections 24–28 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954), the Order stipulates that particular steps must be completed before any such agreement is concluded. Landlords frequently seek the flexibility of a contracted‑out lease, as it allows the tenancy to end on expiry of the term without the tenant acquiring a right to a new lease. Under the LTA 1954, the former position required court approval for a contracted‑out arrangement (the Pre‑2004 Procedure). The Order replaced that regime with a new process that obliges the landlord to serve a warning notice in, or in a form substantially similar to, that set out in SI 2003/3096. This notice must be given...

Under sections 101 and 103 of the Law of Property Act 1925 ( LPA 1925), a mortgagee in possession is empowered to dispose of the property, usually once possession has been obtained; however, the parties may by agreement contract out of this statutory power. When the power of sale is exercised, the mortgagor’s equitable right to redeem is brought to an end, and the mortgagee holds any surplus sale proceeds on trust for the mortgagor and other interested parties......

Can the respondent refuse to agree the stay unless the applicant pays the costs incurred by the respondent? What factors will the Tribunal consider in deciding whether or not to agree the stay? The First-tier Tribunal ( FTT) is a statutory creation, with authority derived from the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 ( TCEA 2007), which established it, and the Tribunal Procedure ( First-tier Tribunal) ( Property Chamber) Rules 2013, SI 2013/1169 (the Property Chamber Rules). Importantly, the decision to impose a stay does not rest with the parties. That is a defined case management power conferred on the FTT by the Property Chamber Rules ( SI 2013/1169, r 6(3)(m)). When exercising its powers, the Tribunal must give effect to the overriding objective, requiring cases to be handled fairly and justly ( SI 2013/1169, r 3(1) and (3))....

A person with an interest in property that has been disclaimed (for instance, a sub-tenant) retains that interest on the same terms and subject to the same rights and obligations as if no disclaimer had occurred. If they carry out the tenant’s obligations under the disclaimed lease, they cannot be removed; if they do not, the landlord may distrain or forfeit—as explained by Lord Nicholls in Hindcastle Ltd v Barbara Attenborough Associates Ltd: the sub-tenant’s interest is unaffected by the determination of the tenant’s interest. Thus the sub-tenant holds the estate on identical terms, and remains subject to the same rights and obligations, as would apply if the tenant’s interest had continued. If they pay the rent and perform the tenant covenants in the disclaimed lease, the landlord cannot evict them. If they fail to do so, the landlord may distrain upon their goods for the...

Is a tree a plant or a hedge? On conventional botanical understanding, a ‘tree’ is treated as a variety of plant; nevertheless, we have not identified any case law or alternative legal authority that conclusively determines whether a tree falls within the broader definition of plant. Even so, a hedge may consist of trees (see below). In short, while science leans that way, the legal position remains unsettled at present, for now, in practice......

This Q& A assumes that the contractual termination date of the lease has passed. Where the contractual term has already ended, a landlord seeking to terminate a tenancy proceeds under section 29(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954), issuing the matter as a CPR Part 7 claim. For overarching guidance, see Practice Note: LTA 1954 business lease renewal—proceedings (under ‘ Opposed application—procedure’). A defendant to a Part 7 claim who wishes to discontinue their defence should, as a sensible course, engage with the landlord to agree terms and file a consent order providing for the proceedings to be dismissed on a specified date......

When A and B make a covenant regulating the use of B’s freehold land (presently owned by B or to be conveyed to B) for the benefit of land kept or held by A, it is, as a contractual promise, immediately enforceable. If, however, either A or B disposes of the interest in their respective parcels, the covenant is enforceable only where the equitable rules governing the enforceability of freehold covenants are fulfilled. Where A, being the original covenantee, has transferred the interest in the benefitted land to C, C may enforce the covenant solely if it is demonstrable that the covenant benefits that land and that the benefit has passed by assignment. The latter element will, in most cases, arise automatically by virtue of section 78 of the Law of Property Act 1925 ( LPA 1925), as provided under that statute in...

As regards the requirement to serve, the controlling rule is CPR 55.10...

Adverse possession When a person has exercised factual control over land owned by someone else for a defined period, intends to possess it, and does so without the landowner’s consent, he may have grounds to seek to be registered formally as the owner of that land on the register as such owner. This situation is described as adverse possession (also labelled ‘squatter’s rights’) and, from 13 October 2003, has been regulated by the Land Registration Act 2002 ( LRA 2002). Before the LRA 2002 came into force, the doctrine operated under the common law, with the leading modern authority being the decision in J A Pye ( Oxford) Ltd v Graham......

A periodic tenancy may qualify as a business tenancy for the purposes of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954), conferring security of tenure on tenants. This sets periodic tenancies apart from other arrangements, such as a tenancy at will, a service tenancy, or a short-term business tenancy within LTA 1954, s 43(3), which cannot obtain any protected tenancy status under LTA 1954......

A liquidator of a company has broad power under section 178 of the Insolvency Act 1986 to disclaim any ‘onerous property’ Under section 178 of the Insolvency Act 1986, a company’s liquidator possesses extensive authority to renounce any ‘onerous property’......

Under section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954), a tenancy within its scope does not expire unless it is brought to an end in accordance with the Act......