A farm with 23 acres was let in 1902. The term passed to Alfred and William Burge, a father and son farming in partnership. On the later dissolution of the partnership, the house and five acres of land were assigned to Alfred and the remaining 18 acres were assigned to William. The house and five acres ceased to be used for agricultural purposes in 1982; but the remaining 18 acres continued to be farmed. The court was asked whether an assignee of part of the leased house would be able to acquire the freehold under the 1967 Act. The freeholder responded that it was part of an agricultural holding and therefore exempt.
Dillon LJ said: ‘One question to be considered is whether the effect of the partition, or of the partition and the subsequent assignment to the plaintiffs of their part of the land, is to create two separate tenancies of two separate holdings, each of which has to be looked at on its own. But if that is not the effect, it is still necessary, despite the partition, to look at the land comprised in the 1902 lease as a whole. If the land is looked at as a whole, the answer, in my judgment, must be . . that the whole of the land, with an exception only which does not substantially affect the character of the tenancy, is still let for use as agricultural land. If the land comprised in the 1902 lease has to be looked at as a whole the plaintiffs must fail because, on that approach, the [house] assigned to them, of which they desire to have the freehold, is still comprised in an agricultural holding.’ and that ‘an assignment of separate parts of leasehold property to separate assignees for the residue of the term is now-a-days tolerably rare.’
Judges:
Dillon, Slade LJJ
Citations:
[1990] 2 QB 430
Statutes:
Leasehold Reform Act 1967 1(3), Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 1
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Gammon v Vernon 1729
The lessor brought debt against the assignee of the moiety of the term for the moiety of the rent reserved on the lease, arid it was resolved by the whole Court, that the action well lay. . .
Cited – Hare v Cator 1778
Declaratiori against the defendant as assignee of all the estate, andc. in certain premises: evidence that he is assignee of part only is a fatal variance. . .
Cited – Stevenson v Lambard 6-Jul-1802
The landlord brought an action in covenant against an assignee of the term claiming rent. The assignee pleaded (amongst other things) that he had been evicted from half the land by title paramount. The question for the court was whether, in those . .
Cited – Whitham v Bullock CA 1939
The assignee of part of the property comprised in the lease had paid the whole rent in order to stave off a threatened distress. He then sued the assignee of the other part for a contribution.
Held: He succeeded.
Counsel for the . .
Cited by:
Cited – Smith and Another v Jafton Properties Ltd CA 2-Nov-2011
The landlord challenged the right of the tenants to acquire the freehold. Lessees had been subdivided the apartments and then, without the landlord’s consent, assigned them. The new arrangement had increased the number of qualifying tenancies so as . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Landlord and Tenant, Agriculture
Updated: 20 May 2022; Ref: scu.448995