Category: Landlord and Tenant

Capital and Counties Freehold Equity Trust Ltd v BL plc: ChD 1987

The court construed the word ‘incurred’ in a lease to be synonymous with ‘expended’ or ‘become payable’.

Paul Baker QC HHJ
[1987] 2 EGLR 49
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Wembley National Stadium Ltd v Wembley (London) Ltd and Others ChD 4-Apr-2007
Land at Wembley stadium had been sold to the defendants and leased back. The defendant assigned the freehold within the group, declaring that the lease was held in trust for the original freeholder. The claimant now said that the defendant assignee . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.263797

Cardiothoracic Institute v Shrewdcrest Ltd: ChD 1986

The landlord hoped to redevelop a site. The defendant was in possession as a business tenant pursuant to three successive leases for which orders had been made under section 38(4) of the 1954 Act excluding the operation of sections 24 to 28 of the Act. The last of the three leases expired on October 31 1983. The parties were then involved in a succession of negotiations for a series of extensions. The defendant paid rent monthly in advance, in general accordance with the terms of the successive extensions.
Held: Where an agreement required an application first to court for an exclusion of protection under the 1954 Act, each side would, until such a hearing, be free to turn away from the transaction. The continuing negotiations meant that this remained a tenancy at will. Once the court took into account the parties’ knowledge of the operation of the 1954 Act, it was clear that they did not intend to create a periodic tenancy pending the grant, which both sides anticipated, of a tenancy approved by the court under section 38. Nor was there any compelling reason why the court should impute such an intention to them if, as was factually perfectly possible, they gave no serious thought to the legal repercussions of the payment and acceptance of rent.
Knox J said: ‘. . . there is, in my judgment, implicit in a condition that the tenancy agreement negotiated between the parties should be subject to the making of a court order under section 38(4) of the 1954 Act, a term that unless and until the court order is obtained no legally binding grant or acceptance of the tenancy should be made.’

Knox J
[1986] 1 WLR 368, [1986] 2 EGLR 57, [1986] 3 All ER 633
Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
England and Wales
Cited by:
Applied – Taylor v Inntrepreneur Estates Limited QBD 30-Jan-2001
The claimant had entered into the ‘The Royal Albert’ public house under a tenancy management agreement. They later negotiated for a contracted out business tenancy. They sought now to appeal a strike out of their claim for a secure tenancy.
Cited – Clear Channel United Kingdom Ltd, Regina (on the Application of) v First Secretary of State and Another Admn 14-Oct-2004
The claimant sought a declaration that it had a tenancy for its occupation by an advertising station, and that it had protection under the 1954 Act. The defendant council said that only a licence had been granted.
Held: The grants included the . .
Cited – Javad v Aqil CA 15-May-1990
P in possession – tenancy at will Until Completion
A prospective tenant was allowed into possession and then made periodic payments of rent while negotiations proceeded on the terms of a lease to be granted to him. The negotiations broke down.
Held: The tenant’s appeal failed. It was inferred . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.216563

Gala Unity Ltd v Ariadne Road RTM Company Ltd: CA 23 Oct 2012

Section 72(1)(a) of the 2002 Act 2002, which set out that the right to manage provisions applies to premises if ‘they consisted of a self-contained building or part of a building, with or without appurtenant property’, which did not require that the appurtenant property should appertain exclusively to the self-contained building which was the subject of the claim to acquire the right to manage.

Arden, Sullivan, Patten LJJ
[2012] EWCA Civ 1372, [2013] 1 WLR 988, [2012] 3 EGLR 79, [2012] 44 EG 9, [2013] L and TR 5, [2013] HLR 3, [2012] 44 EG 94, [2012] WLR(D) 307, [2012] 50 EG 105
Bailii, WLRD
Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002
England and Wales
Cited by:
Questioned – Firstport Property Services Ltd v Settlers Court Company RTM Ltd and Others UTLC 12-Aug-2019
Landlord and Tenant – Right To Manage – whether Gala Unity v Ariadne Road RTM Co Ltd decided per incuriam – appurtenant property – extent of management rights on acquisition. . .
Overruled – Firstport Property Services Ltd v Settlers Court RTM Company Ltd and Others SC 12-Jan-2022
FirstPort managed an estate of ten blocks of flats. The Second and other Respondents were leaseholders of flats in one of the blocks,
‘Settlers Court’, with rights to access the estate’s communal areas. FirstPort provided services on the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.465110

Firstport Property Services Ltd v Settlers Court Company RTM Ltd and Others: UTLC 12 Aug 2019

Landlord and Tenant – Right To Manage – whether Gala Unity v Ariadne Road RTM Co Ltd decided per incuriam – appurtenant property – extent of management rights on acquisition.

[2019] UKUT 243 (LC)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Questioned – Gala Unity Ltd v Ariadne Road RTM Company Ltd CA 23-Oct-2012
Section 72(1)(a) of the 2002 Act 2002, which set out that the right to manage provisions applies to premises if ‘they consisted of a self-contained building or part of a building, with or without appurtenant property’, which did not require that the . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Firstport Property Services Ltd v Settlers Court RTM Company Ltd and Others SC 12-Jan-2022
FirstPort managed an estate of ten blocks of flats. The Second and other Respondents were leaseholders of flats in one of the blocks,
‘Settlers Court’, with rights to access the estate’s communal areas. FirstPort provided services on the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.641702

Firstport Property Services Ltd v Settlers Court RTM Company Ltd and Others: SC 12 Jan 2022

FirstPort managed an estate of ten blocks of flats. The Second and other Respondents were leaseholders of flats in one of the blocks,
‘Settlers Court’, with rights to access the estate’s communal areas. FirstPort provided services on the estate, including maintenance of the communal areas, for which it was entitled to levy an estate service charge. Through the ‘right-to-manage’ regime in the Act, the First Respondent, the RTM Company, acquired the right to manage the block and took on responsibility for providing services in relation to the block itself. A dispute then arose as to whether the leaseholders continued to be obliged to pay the estate service charge to FirstPort. On an application by the RTM Company, the First-Tier Tribunal held that the company had acquired the right to manage the estate and that the leaseholders need not pay the estate service charge. The Upper Tribunal dismissed FirstPort’s appeal but certified the question for the Supreme Court: ‘Where a company incorporated by leaseholders in a block of flats acquires the right to manage the block under the 2002 Act, and the leaseholders also enjoy rights over the estate in which the block is situated, does the company only acquire the right to manage the block itself, or does it also acquire the right to manage the rest of the estate?’
Held: The appeal succeeded. Gala Unity was wrongly decided

Lord Briggs
Lord Sales
Lord Leggatt
Lord Burrows
Lady Rose
[2022] UKSC 1
Bailii, Bailii Press Summary, Bailii Issues and Facts
Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Firstport Property Services Ltd v Settlers Court Company RTM Ltd and Others UTLC 12-Aug-2019
Landlord and Tenant – Right To Manage – whether Gala Unity v Ariadne Road RTM Co Ltd decided per incuriam – appurtenant property – extent of management rights on acquisition. . .
Overruled – Gala Unity Ltd v Ariadne Road RTM Company Ltd CA 23-Oct-2012
Section 72(1)(a) of the 2002 Act 2002, which set out that the right to manage provisions applies to premises if ‘they consisted of a self-contained building or part of a building, with or without appurtenant property’, which did not require that the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.671221

Callander v Smith: HL 9 May 1901

Held ( aff. judgment of the Second Division, but by the majority upon different grounds) that section 4 of the Market Gardeners’ Compensation (Scotland) Act 1897 does not entitle a tenant under a lease current at the commencement of the Act to claim compensation in respect of market garden improvements executed prior to the commencement of the Act.
Held, per the Lord Chancellor, Lord Shand, Lord Davey, and Lord Brampton, and opinion per Lord Ashbourne, that in the Market Gardeners Compensation (Scotland) Act 1897, section 4, the word ‘then’ in the context ‘has then executed thereon . . improvements in respect of which a right of compensation or removal is given to a tenant by this Act,’ means ‘thereafter’ and not, as held by the Second Division, ‘prior to the commencement of the Act.’

Lord Chancellor (Halsbury), and Lords Ashbourne, Shand, Davey, Brampton, and Robertson
[1901] UKHL 576, 38 SLR 576
Bailii
Scotland

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 14 January 2022; Ref: scu.630989

Sidewalk Properties Ltd v Twinn and Others: UTLC 10 Mar 2016

UTLC LEASEHOLD ENFRANCHISEMENT – COSTS – in-house solicitor engaged in responding to seven near identical claims – whether hourly rate for solicitor in private practice applicable – appropriate rate – whether fee recoverable for solicitor to instruct valuer and consider valuation s.60 Leasehold Reform. Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 – appeal allowed

[2015] UKUT 122 (LC)
Bailii
Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 60
England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 14 January 2022; Ref: scu.562442

William Lord Falconer, of Halkerton v Robert Taylor, David Beattie, Christian Low The Widow, and James Low The Son of John Low, and Others, Tenants Upon The ‘S Estate, In Kincardineshire: HL 7 Apr 1775

Lease – Ambiguous Clause – Parole Proof.- Construction of clause in lease for 57 years, to renounce at the end of every 19 years, in the option of lessor and lessee. Held, this not to import an option, to be exercised by the landlord alone, without the consent of the tenant. But reversed in House of Lords, and remitted to the Court of Session, to take proof of what was the understanding of the parties on entering into the lease, the clause itself being ambiguous.

[1775] UKHL 2 – Paton – 373
Bailii
Scotland

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 13 January 2022; Ref: scu.561832

John Bane Stewart, and Others, Lessees of Glenfinlas v Margaret Countess Dowager of Moray, and Francis Earl of Moray: HL 24 Mar 1773

Lease – Incomplete Contract – Possession – Locality Lands – Power to Lease.- An offer for a lease was made in writing by several tenants, and the landlord’s factor wrote in answer to the subfactor, through whom the offers had come, that the landlord had read over the offers, and that the rent and duration of the lease were agreed to, but other points not fixed. He thereafter wrote as to those, and with instructions to get the lease drawn out, and signed by the tenants on stamp: This was done, and sent to him for signature, but the landlord kept it for two years, and died without signing it. In the mean time, he had allowed possession to be taken by the tenants;-on the faith of it they had proceeded to make dykes, and other improvements, and had paid two years’ increased rent: Held, in all the circumstances of the case, that the lease was as effectual and binding, as if it had been signed by the Earl. Also, held that a lease may be granted by a fiar, after he had granted the same lands in liferent locality to his wife, to take effect in the event of her surviving him.

[1773] UKHL 2 – Paton – 317, (1773) 2 Paton 317
Bailii
Scotland

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 13 January 2022; Ref: scu.561819

James Scott of Comieston, Esq v George Straton: HL 13 Jan 1772

Lease in Perpetuity – Singular Successor – Homologation – Irritancy. – A lease was granted to a party, and his heirs and assignees, for nineteen years after the death of a party; and after the expiry of these nineteen years, for a second nineteen years, and after the expiry of the second nineteen years’, for the space of other nineteen years, and so forth from nineteen years to nineteen years, so long as the said party and his heirs and successors shall desire to possess. The lease had no definite ish, and the tenant was bound to pay for each nineteen years an entry or grassum duty to the landlord. This lease having been sought to be reduced by a singular successor, after he had for some years received rents under this lease. Held, that it was a good lease, and affirmed in the House of Lords. The lease contained a clause providing, that if two years rent ran into the third unpaid, the lease was to be forfeited. Objection on this ground repelled.

[1772] UKHL 3 – Paton – 666
Bailii
Scotland

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 13 January 2022; Ref: scu.561690

Brett v Brett Essex Golf Club: CA 1986

Land was let for use as a golf course. In the first term, the tenant erected a club house and laid the course. A subsequent lease extended the term and expanded the area to include a neighbouring 9 hole course, and included a rent review clause which required the rent to be set by reference to the 1974 Act. The issue was as to how the club-house and other works were to be included in the valuation.
Held: s34 allowed for a disregard only for the works carried out in the current lease. The club-house and 9-hole course were to be included. They were not voluntary improvements, and the ‘demised premises’ were the premises on the grant of the second and current lease.

[1986] 278 EG 1476
Landlord and Tenant Act 1974 34
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Panther Shop Investments v Keith Pople 1987
Under an earlier lease, the tenant had erected an extension and storage building. There had been no obligation to do so. In the subsequent lease, the rent came to be reviewed.
Held: The improvements carried out under the previous lease were . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 13 January 2022; Ref: scu.217913

Joseph v Joseph: CA 1967

The words in section 38(1) ‘purports to’ means ‘has the effect that’ so that an agreement to give up possession in two years when the lease would still have six years to run infringed section 38 as it would preclude an application or request for a new tenancy even though an actual surrender was permitted by section 24(2).

Lord Denning
[1967] Ch 78
Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 38(1)
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Re Hennessey 1975
A long lease at a premium and a low rent comprised three rooms at the top of a building. Clause 7 provided that the landlord should be entitled to buy the residue of the lease for andpound;2,500 if either the tenant gave notice to the landlord that . .
Cited – Tiffany Investments Ltd and Another v Bircham and Co Nominees (No 2) Limited and others CA 4-Dec-2003
The tenancy was a long lease at a low rent under the 1954 Act, and so had continuing protection under the 1977 Act whilst occupied by the original tenant. The lease was assigned and registered. It had been conditional upon an application to purchase . .
Cited – Allnatt Properties Ltd v Newton ChD 1981
A business lease provided that if the tenant wished to assign, he must first offer a surrender to the landlord for the net premium value. If the landlord did not accept, then he could apply for consent to assign, such consent not to be unreasonably . .
Cited – Meretz Investments Nv and Another v ACP Ltd and others ChD 30-Jan-2006
The applicant challenged the exercise of a power of sale under a mortgage, saying that the mortgagee’s purposes included purposes not those under the mortgage. The parties had been involved in an attempted development of a penthouse.
Held: The . .
Cited – Cameron Ltd v Rolls-Royce Plc ChD 12-Mar-2007
His lease had expired, but the defendant continued in occupation under a licence. The parties agreed for new leases on terms fixed, but conditional on the lease being allowed to be contracted out. The tenant now asserted that it occupied the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 13 January 2022; Ref: scu.192032