Legal Q&A

For this Q& A, it is assumed that: the landlord’s warning notice was validly served the tenant’s statutory declaration was duly sworn (not merely signed) the lease is unregistered and not required to be registered Validity of the lease By virtue of section 52 of the Law of Property Act 1925 ( LPA 1925), any conveyance of land, or any interest in it, is ineffective to convey or create a legal estate unless executed as a deed. That section contains a number of exceptions, including a lease granted for a term of less than three years. See Commentary: Leases which are not effective to create a legal estate: Halsbury’s Laws of England [68]......

Commercial leases commonly bar tenants from carrying out alterations or enhancements to the let premises unless the landlord agrees. In addition, tenants are typically required, on expiry of the term, to hand back the property in the condition it was in at the outset. As a result, if consent for alterations is given, an obligation to reinstate will generally be imposed as a pre-condition. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 ( LTA 1927) sets out a number of provisions concerning improvements......

The answer on the contractual provisions in the tenancy agreement. On the face of it, the tenant must secure consent before commencing any works. Where that applies, the tenant cannot compel the landlord to grant consent after the fact for alterations, save where the landlord chooses to agree. Should the landlord decide to issue consent retrospectively for any alterations, the landlord will set out the conditions and requirements on which such consent is given. These may include timing, scope, reinstatement, and any associated costs......

Electronic Communications Code (the Code) It is taken that a headlease has been forfeited, with any sub-leases granted under it likewise brought to an end. The Electronic Communications Code (the Code) referenced is the version produced by the Law Commission in 2013. As the Q& A observes, the operator’s lease was terminated by forfeiture and, thereafter, it is assumed the freeholder required the equipment to be removed, so a paragraph 21 notice had to be served. Paragraph 21 of the Code states that, where no agreement is in place or it is shortly to come to an end, the freeholder requires an order authorising removal of the telecommunications apparatus located on the roof of the freeholder’s property......

Compulsory acquisition of landlord’s interest by tenants of flats Under Part III of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 ( LTA 1987), qualifying long-lease flat owners may compel transfer of the landlord’s interest to a nominated person where: the landlord has breached duties to repair, maintain, insure or manage the building; or the building has been managed for at least two years by a manager appointed under LTA 1987, Part II. For criteria and procedure for an acquisition order, see Practice Note: Compulsory acquisition of landlord’s interest by tenants of flats. When deciding to bring an acquisition order as a standalone claim or within a defence and counterclaim, CPR 20.9 applies. The court considers whether to permit an additional claim, dismiss it, or require it be determined separately from the claimant’s claim. Factors may include: the connection between the additional claim and the claimant’s claim against the...

This query asks whether the owner of the land (the servient owner) on which a septic tank currently sits, and across which a neighbour has acquired prescriptive drainage rights, is entitled to replace that tank with a modern treatment unit, and whether the neighbour benefiting from those rights (the dominant owner) can be obliged to contribute to the costs of installing and maintaining the replacement apparatus. Can the servient owner replace the tank? On the basis that the dominant owner holds a prescriptive right to drain into the septic tank (as stated), the initial issue is the servient owner’s entitlement to substitute the existing septic tank with a contemporary equivalent. Provided the works are organised so that the neighbour’s drainage rights are not hindered to an actionable extent, both during installation and thereafter, there is, in principle, no reason to object to the servient owner...

Section 57(1) of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 ( LRHUDA 1993) Provides that the terms of any new lease must be conferred in line with LRHUDA 1993, s 56(1) as regards rent (a peppercorn) and the term (90 years after the existing lease’s term date), and, save for appropriate specified amendments, should otherwise reflect the provisions of the current lease. In addition, LRHUDA 1993, s 57(6) confirms that LRHUDA 1993, s 57(1) does not prevent the landlord and the tenant, in defined specified circumstances, from settling terms for the new lease which are not in accordance with the existing lease, in those specified circumstances. This applies in certain specified cases only......

Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954) Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954) affords security of tenure to business tenancies that have not opted out of its terms. In practical terms, a tenancy does not end on the contractual expiry date by effluxion of time; rather, it continues as a statutory tenancy. Either the landlord or the tenant may apply to the court seeking the grant of a new tenancy. By virtue of LTA 1954, s 25, the landlord may give notice to the tenant to terminate the tenancy. If the landlord wishes to oppose the grant of a new tenancy, they must identify one of the grounds set out in LTA 1954, s 30(1). If the landlord does not oppose the grant of a new lease, the landlord must set out the...

The changes brought about by the Deregulation Act 2015 Section 21A of the Housing Act 1988 ( HA 1988) was introduced by section 38 of the Deregulation Act 2015 ( DA 2015), and covers all tenancies created on or after 1 October 2015. Under HA 1988, s 21A, a landlord must satisfy the relevant ‘prescribed requirements’ before a notice can validly be served pursuant to HA 1988, s 21. Those ‘prescribed requirements’ are set out in the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements ( England) Regulations 2015 ( Prescribed Requirements Regs 2015), SI 2015/1646. In effect, the new HA 1988, s 21A states that a notice under subsections (1) or (4) of section 21 cannot be given in relation to an assured shorthold tenancy of a dwelling-house in England while the landlord is in breach of a prescribed...

On 19 June 2020, the version of section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 ( HA 1988) in force allowed the court to make a possession order for a dwelling house once satisfied that the tenant had been duly served with three months’ written notice. This was because paragraph 7 of Schedule 29 to the Coronavirus Act 2020 ( CA 2020) substitutes within HA 1988, s 21 the wording ‘three months’ for the usual ‘two months’. The prescribed form for a section 21 notice is found in the Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies ( Forms) ( England) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/620, Schedule, designated as form 6A......

We proceed on the basis that the company concerned is neither a right to manage ( RTM) vehicle administering property under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (an uncommon scenario, as such entities typically assume management separate from freehold ownership) nor a nominee company established to acquire the freehold collectively under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, where the obligations of individual qualifying tenants regarding payment can be governed by a participation agreement. See Practice Notes: Guide to the right to collective enfranchisement under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and Quick guide to time limits for collective enfranchisement under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993......

This query raises the effect of a notice of claim to exercise the right to manage under Part 2 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 ( CLRA 2002) being withdrawn. Although the grounds for withdrawal are unknown, the parties’ rights and duties under CLRA 2002 remain unchanged. Under CLRA 2002, s 71(1), the right to manage the premises is conferred on a company incorporated for that function. Such an entity is termed a right to manage ( RTM) company ( CLRA 2002, s 73(1)). Only one RTM company may exist at a time, and where the freehold of the managed premises becomes vested in that company, it stops being an RTM company ( CLRA 2002, s 73(4)–(5)). Holders of long leases within the building may join the RTM company ( CLRA 2002, ss 74–75). These individuals are described as...

Tenancy deposits must be safeguarded, irrespective of whether the landlord is a corporate entity or a private individual...

This Q& A raises the issue of the extent to which a person who takes an assignment of the reversion to a residential lease is able to recover rent which fell due before the date upon which it takes effect Upon serving the tenant with notice of assignment of the reversion, the assignee’s rights depend on when the residential lease was granted: Leases granted before 1 January 1996: under section 141 of the Law of Property Act 1925, the assignee is entitled to rent falling due in the future. In addition, as established in Re King, the assignee may pursue arrears that accrued before the assignment, and once the transfer takes effect, the outgoing landlord’s ability to recover those sums is lost. Leases granted on or after 1 January 1996: the Landlord and Tenant ( Covenants) Act 1995 applies. By virtue of LT( C) A...

We direct you to our Lexis®+ UK Property Precedent: Farm Business Tenancy Agreement, and to Farm business tenancy—bare land: Encyclopaedia of Forms & Precedents [453], within Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents, which provide all the clauses you are likely to require, depending on how comprehensive a lease you need......

Procedure for forfeiting a residential lease Under forfeiture law, a landlord may terminate a lease by carrying out re-entry to the property. Re-entry can be achieved either by physically going back into the premises or by commencing and serving possession proceedings in the County Court or the High Court. However, where premises are let as a dwelling and are still occupied, a landlord is not permitted to forfeit by physical re-entry and must instead bring proceedings before the court......

The Housing Act 2004 ( HA 2004) The Housing Act 2004 ( HA 2004) places a duty on landlords to manage deposits taken for assured shorthold tenancies in line with schemes authorised by the Act ( HA 2004, s 213(1)). There are two approved models: a custodial scheme and an insurance scheme ( HA 2004, s 212(8); HA 2004, Sch 10, paras 1(2), 4). Under the custodial option, the deposit is lodged in an account operated by a scheme administrator. Under the insurance option, the landlord retains the deposit but gives an undertaking to the administrator to return the money; the administrator, in turn, maintains insurance to meet repayment if the landlord fails to comply. This Q& A does not explore the sanctions for breach of these obligations ( HA 2004, s 214), nor the restriction on the landlord serving a section 21 notice...

Taking back possession of a garage When a landlord has rented out a dwelling, for example a house or flat, they cannot lawfully regain possession of the property while the tenant remains in residence except by initiating court proceedings. This requirement, in such circumstances, is expressly imposed by sections 2 and 3 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 ( PEA 1977)......

Right to rent scheme The duties imposed by the right to rent scheme extend to all relevant lettings described in Practice Note: Residential tenancies—a tenant’s right to rent under the Immigration Act 2014, except where a letting is an excluded tenancy set out in Schedule 3 to the Immigration Act 2014 ( IA 2014), also cited in that Practice Note. Be aware that social housing—as defined in IA 2014, Sch 3—is outside scope entirely......

This Q& A considers a tenant who is in a tenancy in common with another tenant, who petitions for bankruptcy after exchange and before the completion of a sale of the property that the two tenants own. It examines the first co-owner’s exposure to the purchaser and what remedies he or she may pursue against the other co-tenant if the purchaser serves a notice to complete. As to contractual responsibility, this turns on the contract’s terms. By way of illustration, if the sellers have joint and several obligations, the innocent party is nonetheless answerable to the purchasers. For further details, see Practice Note: Joint, several, and joint and several liability......