Legal Q&A

The issue here is between ‘a claim for personal injuries’, and ‘a claim in negligence or in battery’ This distinction confuses the category of harm (and the relief for it) with the juridical basis of liability. ‘ Personal injury’ is not a tort at all—it is a type of harm flowing from a tort, which in turn generates a legal entitlement to redress. It must be differentiated from other forms of physical harm—for example, loss to property—and from other tortious invasions of personal rights (for instance, the reputational harm occasioned by the tort of defamation). The former labels damage; the latter names the actionable wrong......

Where a foreign company shuts a registered UK establishment (this covers a branch of a foreign company; refer to Practice Note: Overseas companies with an establishment in the UK), it is required to notify Companies House using Form OS DS01 without delay thereafter......

Immigration Rules, Appendix ECAA: Extension Of Stay Pursuant to the current Immigration Rules ( Immigration Rules, Appendix ECAA: Extension Of Stay) and the applicable guidance ( Turkish ECAA guidance: Appendix ECAA extension of stay), holders of the Turkish Worker visa who have been lawfully employed in the UK for at least four years may, from that point, take up any role with any employer. This Appendix took effect at 11pm GMT on 31 December 2020, to encompass those who previously enjoyed rights under Decision 1/80 of the Association Council connected to the ECAA Association Agreement (concluded on 12 September 1963 in Ankara, and later supplemented on 23 November 1970 by the Brussels Protocol). See: Turkey- EEC Association Agreement: Macdonald’s Immigration Law and Practice [6.193]. Immigration Rules Appendix ECAA: Extension Of Stay, paragraphs ECAA 3.1– ECAA 3.2 set out, amongst other matters, that: ECAA 3.1......

This Q& A proceeds on the basis that: the question relates to a business-to-business transaction the question relates to a contract drafted and negotiated in the conventional manner and is not an e-commerce transaction entered into between the parties via website terms and conditions the question relates to the execution of a simple contract the question relates to the law of England and Wales Contract formation General contract law principles apply to agreements formed virtually......

Easements relating to demised property: Hill and Redman’s Law of Landlord and Tenant [1028] sets out a helpful account of the operation of section 62 of the Law of Property Act 1925 ( LPA 1925) in the context of leases: in summary, a lease of land, or of land with buildings, brings with it, without express wording, all easements belonging or thought to belong to the demised property or any part of it, or which at the date of the lease were occupied and enjoyed with it or any part, or treated or recognised as part and parcel of, or appurtenant to, the demised property or any part, unless the lease makes a contrary intention clear. In this matter, this Q& A confirms that the effect of LPA 1925, s 62 has, as is customary, been excluded, and therefore we do not consider that...

Monitoring and reporting migrant activity Under the heading Monitoring and reporting migrant activity, Practice Note, Sponsor duties under Tiers 2 and 5 and adapting human resources systems, confirms that a report must be submitted via the SMS within ten working days whenever a sponsor holds any information indicating that a sponsored......

A bequest in a Will of a laptop does not automatically include a bequest of the data contained on the laptop...

Where a tenant suspects their initial break notice might be defective or invalid, they may issue a further break notice, as explained in Practice Note: Break clauses and notices—service. The legal basis derives from Allam & Co Ltd v Europa Poster Services Ltd, a decision about a landlord giving a notice to quit. Nevertheless, the reasoning is equally applicable to a tenant’s service of a break notice. Set out below is the pertinent chapter taken from Halsbury’s Laws of as reproduced below......

If a landlord fails to comply with a repairing duty in a lease, the tenant is entitled to damages for the loss resulting from that breach. The purpose of those damages is to restore the tenant to the position they would have occupied had the covenant been fulfilled. See, for instance, Langham Estate Management Ltd v Hardy......

This Q& A raises the effect of a tenant vacating property before the end of a fixed-term tenancy agreement. A tenancy benefits from assured shorthold tenancy ( AST) protections under the Housing Act 1988 ( HA 1988) so long as the tenant — or, for a joint tenancy, at least one tenant — occupies the dwelling house as a sole or principal home. While that position continues, the safeguards of HA 1988 apply; once it no longer does, those protections fall away. However, simply stopping occupation of the dwelling house as an only or principal home does not, in itself, terminate the tenancy. Accordingly, when a tenant moves out, the tenancy does not automatically end. The tenant remains bound to observe and perform the covenants set out in the tenancy agreement until the contractual fixed term comes to an end......

The starting point The starting point is that, where the property comprised in the tenancy is, or includes, premises occupied by the tenant and occupied for the purposes of a business carried on by him, or for those purposes together with others, the tenancy benefits from protection under section 23(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954). Save for any right of forfeiture, surrender, or the tenant’s service of a notice to quit, the tenancy can only be ended in accordance with LTA 1954, s 24(1), and otherwise not. The practical result is that, when the contractual term expires, the tenancy continues for as long as the premises remain occupied by the tenant for the purposes of a business, and it does so notwithstanding expiry of the fixed term. However, the parties may agree that the tenancy they are to enter into will not...

If, after a landlord has retaken possession of the premises (whether by peaceable re-entry, under a court order, or because the lease has ended by effluxion of time or under a break notice, etc.), the previous tenant leaves goods behind, unless the lease expressly addresses situation, the landlord assumes the role of involuntary bailee of those items and may incur liability for conversion if they sell the goods and set them off against arrears, or liability in damages if they discard or dispose of the goods......

Section 26 tenant’s request for a new tenancy As you will be aware, a business tenancy can be brought to an end by serving a tenant’s request for a new tenancy under section 26 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954). The request must identify the date on which the new tenancy is to commence, and the current tenancy ends (subject to interim continuance under LTA 1954, s 64) immediately before the date stated in that notice. A section 26 notice is valid only if given by a tenant holding under: a term of years certain exceeding one year, whether or not continued under LTA 1954, s 24, or a tenancy granted for a term of years certain, and thereafter from year to year. The request must set a start date that is no less than six months and no more than 12 months from the date the...

When a tenant qualifies to seek a fresh lease under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954), expenses are liable to arise both through any litigation and in drafting a new lease that might, in the end, be granted without the need for a contested hearing. This issue concerns the degree to which the landlord may oblige the tenant to cover the costs it incurs in preparing that new lease after a discontinuance, for whatever reason... A tenant enjoying the protection of LTA 1954, Pt II will forfeit the right to claim a new tenancy unless proceedings are started within the time limits set by LTA 1954, s 29A, although those limits can be extended by written agreement and often are where negotiations are advancing with vigour. Because a failure to commence proceedings in time means the...

Forfeiture Forfeiture is a contractual mechanism that permits a landlord to terminate a tenancy when the tenant breaches the tenancy terms. This can be achieved either by peaceable re-entry to the property or by starting court proceedings. The tenant retains the ability to seek relief from forfeiture. This Q& A does not clarify whether the lease in question is commercial or residential. For commercial lettings, a landlord cannot exercise forfeiture without first serving a notice under section 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925, setting out the breach and requiring the tenant to remedy it. However, no section 146 notice......

It is presumed the intermediate tenancy remains in force, and a sub-tenancy has been created in breach of covenant. In that case, the landlord is unable to evict the sub-tenant directly......

Under section 40B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954) Where a person is served with a notice under LTA 1954, s 40 and does not meet the obligation to supply the information requested and required, section 40B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 allows them to be the subject of civil proceedings for breach of statutory duty; in those proceedings the court may require that individual to duly perform the duty and can also grant damages as well. See also: Duties of tenants and landlords to give information to each other; in general: Halsbury's Laws of England [1595]. A breach of statutory duty is a standalone tort recognised at common law, in respect of which the......

What are the formality requirements for assigning a commercial lease? There are three principal formalities for assigning a lease. First, the agreement to assign must be in writing and signed, and it must contain all terms expressly agreed by the parties in a single document or, if contracts are exchanged, in each counterpart (section 2 of the Law of Property ( Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 ( LP( MP) A 1989)). Second, the assignment must be carried out by deed, even where the lease itself was originally granted orally (section 53 of the Law of Property Act 1925; Crago v Julian). Third, if the lease being transferred is a registered lease, the assignment only completes once it has been registered at HM Land Registry (section 27(1)(a) of the Land Registration Act 2002 ( LRA 2002))......

Fittings Fittings, sometimes referred to as chattels, are not considered part of the land and, unless there is an express agreement to the contrary, they are not included in the sale of the property. In the absence of any such express provision, and on the assumption that the transaction required vacant possession, those fittings ought to have been taken away by the former landlord prior to completion. The general position regarding fittings left in situ at completion is, subject to the de minimis rule, that the seller must see to it that any goods and rubbish are removed from the property......

Accruer clauses See Williams on Wills [90,1]–[90.6]. Paragraph [90.6] explains that, even if the original portions are unequal, any share arising by way of accrual is to be taken in equal parts, rather than by reference to the ratios of the initial allocations, unless the will or settlement provides otherwise. This view is supported by Re Bower's Settlement Trusts, Bower v Ridley- Thompson. See also: Practice Note: Will interpretation—principles of construction Commentary: Whether conditions apply to shares received under accruer clauses: Halsbury's Laws of England [412]......