When considering the terms of a new lease to be ordered under the Act, the terms of the current tenancy are not necessarily decisive. There may be other circumstances but it is a guide. The terms of the current tenancy are to be considered first in every case. There was no evidence of any special facts affecting the property not common to all retail premises in high-class business areas. The parties are not at liberty to insist on changes simply because they may be beneficial. Every tenant would volunteer to accept increased liabilities as to this or that matter for the purpose of getting, on terms that he thought might ultimately profit him, a lower rent; every landlord might press this or that concession on the tenant because it would enable him to say the open market rent was a higher rent. The right course is to take the terms of the existing lease are a sufficient guide. No special reason is shown for a change and the tenant objects.
Judges:
Widgery, Denning LJJ
Citations:
[1971] 1 WLR 591
Statutes:
Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 35
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Northern Electric Plc v Addison CA 12-Jun-1997
The appellant challenged the terms of an order granting it a new lease under the Act. The landlord sought to have included an upwards only rent review. There was a ransom element since the plot was used as a base for an electricity sub-station which . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Landlord and Tenant
Updated: 23 June 2022; Ref: scu.180631