Category: Landlord and Tenant

K/S Victoria Street v House of Fraser (Stores Management) Ltd and Others: ChD 17 Dec 2010

The parties had agreed to sell property and to lease it back. The agreement provided that on an assignment of the lease, the existing tenant’s guarantor should also stand as guarantor for the incoming assignee, but not subsequently. It now appealed a finding that it was not free to assign the lease to an associate company and then to take a re-assignment holding the lease now free of the guarantee.
Held: The threatened assignment would be a breach of the provisions of clause 3.15 of the lease.

Judges:

Mann J

Citations:

[2010] EWHC 3344 (Ch)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 25(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – K/S Victoria Street v House of Fraser (Stores Management) Ltd and Others CA 27-Jul-2011
The agreement provided that the guarantors to the original lease should act also as guarantors on any assignment. The tenant challenged this provision saying that it contravened the requirements of section 25 of the 1995 Act. HoF contended that such . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 27 September 2022; Ref: scu.427292

Paddington Basin Developments Ltd and Others v West End Quay Estate Management Ltd and Another: ChD 20 Apr 2010

The parties disputed whether a particular arrangement was covered by and subject to the 2003 Regulations.
Lewison J said: ‘[T] here are two separate strands to the policy underlying the regulation of service charges. Parliament gave two types of protection to tenants. First, they are protected by section 19 from having to pay excessive and unreasonable service charges or charges for work and services that are not carried out to a reasonable standard. Second, even if service charges are reasonable in amount, reasonably incurred and are for work and services that are provided to a reasonable standard, they will not be recoverable above the statutory maximum if they relate to qualifying works or a qualifying long term agreement and the consultation process has not been complied with or dispensed with. It follows that the consultation provisions are imposed for an additional reason; namely, to ensure a degree of transparency and accountability when a landlord decides to undertake qualifying works or enter into a qualifying long term agreement. As Robert Walker LJ observed in Martin and Seale v Maryland Estates Ltd (2000) 32 HLR 116, 125 in relation to a previous version of the consultation requirements: ‘Parliament has recognised that it is of great concern to tenants, and a potential cause of great friction between landlord and tenants, that tenants may not know what is going on, what is being done, ultimately at their expense.”

Judges:

Lewison J

Citations:

[2010] EWHC 833 (Ch), [2010] NPC 46, [2010] 1 WLR 2735, [2010] 27 EG 86, [2010] 2 EGLR 35, [2010] 17 EG 94 (CS)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Service Charges (Consultation etc) Regulations 2003

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Daejan Investments Ltd v Benson and Others SC 6-Mar-2013
Daejan owned the freehold of a block of apartments, managing it through an agency. The tenants were members of a resident’s association. The landlord wished to carry out works, but failed to complete the consultation requirements. The court was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 27 September 2022; Ref: scu.408548

Kilmartin SCI (Hulton House) Ltd v Safeway Stores: ChD 27 Jan 2006

The claimant sought specific performance of an agreement by the defendant to take a lease of premises. The defendant disputed the areas to be let saying it did not meet the criteria agreed.
Held: The expert had had difficulties in measuring the area. He had purported to provide measurement which he said was fair between the parties. He had been employed to measure the area and no more. However even so, the measurement exceeded the minumum area to be provided and the claim for specific performance succeeded.

Judges:

Warren J

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 60 (Ch)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 27 September 2022; Ref: scu.238154

West Hampstead Management Company Ltd v Pearl Property Ltd: CA 10 Jul 2002

Solicitors’ application to be removed from record.

Citations:

[2002] EWCA Civ 1072

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

See Also – West Hampstead Management Company Ltd v Pearl Property Ltd CA 26-Jul-2002
Appeal from assessment of compensation on enfranchisement – fixing of correct date . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 27 September 2022; Ref: scu.217507

Sargeant, and Sargeant v Macepark (Whittlebury) Limited: ChD 8 Jun 2004

The landlord granted the tenant a licence to make alterations to the property, but imposed conditions on the use to be made of the resulting premises. The tenant objected.
Held: The landlord was entitled when granting consent to take into account possible adverse effects on his own business interests and was therefore able to impose such conditions. Section 19(2) would not permit a landlord to allow for such considerations, but that section applied only to improvements. ‘ . . . there is no rule of law which precludes a landlord from relying under any circumstances on perceived damage to his trading interests in adjoining or neighbouring property as a ground for refusing consent to an assignment or change of use. Whether the particular perception is reasonable and whether, if reasonable, it justifies a refusal of consent or the imposition of a condition, is a question of fact in each case. ‘

Judges:

The Honourable Mr Justice Lewison

Citations:

[2004] EWHC 1333 (Ch), Times 06-Jul-2004, [2004] 3 EGLR 26, [2004] 4 All ER 662

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 19(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Re Hooker’s Settlement 1955
. .
Cited – Brawley v Marczynski and Another CA 21-Oct-2002
The defendants appealed an award of costs on an indemnity basis against them in the favour of a legally aided claimant.
Held: Indemnity costs were often intended to indicate disapproval of a party’s behaviour in an action, and were awarded in . .
Cited – International Drilling Fluids v Louisville Investments (Uxbridge) Ltd CA 20-Nov-1985
Consent to Assignment Unreasonably Withheld
The landlord had refused a proposed assignment of office premises from a tenant who had occupied the premises as its permanent offices, to a tenant who proposed to use the premises as serviced offices – that is, for short-term rent to others. The . .
Cited – Houlder Brothers and Co Ltd v Gibbs CA 1925
The landlord owned two adjoining commercial properties. The tenant of one proposed to assign the lease to the tenant of the adjoining property. The landlord refused consent on the ground that if the assignment went ahead, it was likely that the . .
Cited – Ashworth Frazer Ltd v Gloucester City Council CA 3-Feb-2000
A landlord could not refuse to consent to an assignment because of a belief, even if reasonably based, that the intended use by the prospective assignee would be a breach of covenant under the lease. That did not mean that a landlord could not after . .
Cited – Pimms Ltd v Tallow Chandlers Company CA 1964
The landlord had refused its consent to an assignment of the remaining term of a lease to a development company, which desired to acquire the lease because of its nuisance value, and to use its interest as a basis for inducing the landlord to enter . .
Cited – Lambert v FW Woolworth and Co Ltd CA 1938
The court considered the reasonableness of the withholding of consent under the Act: ‘the landlords have unconditionally withheld their consent and made no condition as to payment of any compensation in respect of damage to or diminution in the . .
Cited – Iqbal v Thakrar CA 2004
The court considered a covenant in a lease not to alter the premises: ‘(1) The purpose of the [covenant] is to protect the landlord from the tenant effecting alterations and additions which damage the property interests of the landlord. (2) A . .
Cited – Straudley Investments Limited v Mount Eden Land Limited CA 7-Oct-1996
In considering a refusal of consent to a sub-letting, two considerations in addition to those already esatblished in law applied: ‘(1) It will normally be reasonable for a landlord to refuse consent or impose a condition if this is necessary to . .
Cited – Whiteminster Estates Ltd v Hodges Menswear Ltd 1974
The landlords carried on business as men’s outfitters. They also owned the shop next door which had been let as a cafe. The tenant applied for consent to assign the lease to another men’s outfitter, and the landlord refused on the ground that the . .
Cited – Whiteminster Estates Ltd v Hodges Menswear Ltd 1974
The landlords carried on business as men’s outfitters. They also owned the shop next door which had been let as a cafe. The tenant applied for consent to assign the lease to another men’s outfitter, and the landlord refused on the ground that the . .
Cited – Sportoffer Ltd v Erewash Borough Council ChD 17-Mar-1999
The landlords were the local authority, and operated a municipal leisure centre. The tenants were the tenants of a squash club and applied for consent to a change of use to use as a leisure centre. The landlords objected on the ground that the . .
Cited – Newton Abbot Co-operative Society Ltd v Williamson and Treadgold Ltd ChD 1952
A restrictive covenant taken for the protection of a business carried on on land owned by the covenantee was a covenant taken for the benefit of land; in other words a property interest. In this context the word ‘assign’ was apposite to an . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 27 September 2022; Ref: scu.198088

Berrisford v Mexfield Housing Co-Operative Ltd: SC 9 Nov 2011

The tenant appealed against an order granting possession. The tenancy, being held of a mutual housing co-operative did not have security but was in a form restricting the landlord’s right to recover possession, and the tenant resisted saying that it was worded to create a lease for life (applying the LRB case).
Held: The tenant’s appeal succeeded. Despite the agreement being from month to month, it was clearly intended only to be determinable under the relative provisions. A periodic tenancy with an invalid fetter on the landlord’s right to determine should be treated in the same way as a tenancy for a fixed, if indeterminate, term. The Occupancy Agreement took effect as a lease for 90 years, determinable by Mexfield only on one month’s notice on Ms Berrisford’s death or in accordance with the provisions of clause 6 of the Occupancy Agreement.

Judges:

Lord Hope, Deputy President, Lord Walker, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Neuberger, Lord Clarke, Lord Dyson

Citations:

[2011] NPC 115, [2011] 46 EG 105, [2011] 3 WLR 1091, [2011] UKSC 32, UKSC 2010/0167, [2012] 1 AC 955, [2012] PTSR 69, [2011] 3 EGLR 115, [2012] L and TR 7, [2012] 1 P and CR 8, [2012] 1 All ER 1393, [2012] HLR 15

Links:

Bailii, Bailii Summary, SC Summary, SC

Statutes:

Law of Property Act 1922 145, Law of Property Act 1925 1(1) 205(1)(xxvii) 149(6), Protection from Eviction Act 1977

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

At first instance – Mexfield Housing Co-Operative Ltd v Berrisford ChD 5-Oct-2009
The claimant appealed against refusal of a summary order for possession of the defendant tenant’s house for arrears of rent. The arrears arose through delay in payment of Housing Benefit, and all arrears had been cleared by the hearing of the . .
Appeal from – Berrisford v Mexfield Housing Co- Operative Ltd CA 15-Jul-2010
The Society ran a mortgage rescue scheme, buying properties from borrowers unable to maintain mortgage repayments, and letting them back. As a co-operative, the former owners would become members. Because it was a mutual housing co-operative, the . .
Cited – Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v London Residuary Body and Others HL 16-Jul-1992
The parties signed a memorandum of agreement to let a strip of land from 1930 until determined as provided, but the only provision was that the lease would continue until the land was needed for road widening and two months’ notice was given. The . .
Cited – In re Midland Railway Co’s Agreement, Charles Clay and Sons Ltd v British Railways Board CA 1971
The lease agreement created a term for six months from 10 June 1920 and was to continue from half year to half year until determined. It was to be determined by three months’ written notice given by either party to the other provided that the . .
Cited – Say v Smith 1563
A lease for a term certain purported to add a term which was uncertain.
Held: The lease was valid only as to the certain term. Anthony Brown J said:’Every contract sufficient to make a lease for years ought to have certainty in three . .
Cited – The Bishop of Bath’s Case CCP 1572
A Lease was made to A and B for 60 years, with a clause of re-entry immediately after the deaths of A and B and of the longer liver of them within the term. After the death of A within the term another lease of the same lands was made to C habendum . .
Cited – Burgh v Potkyn 1522
The court originated the concept in law of a periodic tenancy. . .
Cited – John Taylor v Mary Seed In Ejectment 1724
The plaintiff’s lessor had leased a house in London to the defendant for seven years, and, after the seven expired, had accepted a quarter’s rent, whereby a tenancy at will was created; and it was proved by an ancient city-book in French (called . .
Cited – Doe dem Warner v Browne 1807
The parties agreed a lease at a rent of andpound;40 per annum. The landlord was not to raise the rent nor turn out the tenant ‘so long as the rent is duly paid quarterly, and he does not expose to sale or sell any article that may be injurious to W . .
Cited – Browne v Warner 23-Jul-1807
. .
Cited – Lace v Chantler CA 1944
The freeholder purported to let the house to the tenant ‘for the duration of the war’
Held: The term was uncertain, and therefore no lease was created.
Lord Green MR said: ‘The intention was to create a tenancy and nothing else. The law . .
Cited – Ashburn Anstalt v Arnold (2) CA 25-Feb-1988
Various leases of properties had been granted. Legal and General occupied the property under an arrangement under which they paid no rent. The landlord sought possession, saying that the agreements were licences not tenancies because of the absence . .
Cited – Street v Mountford HL 6-Mar-1985
When a licence is really a tenancy
The document signed by the occupier stated that she understood that she had been given a licence, and that she understood that she had not been granted a tenancy protected under the Rent Acts. Exclusive occupation was in fact granted.
Held: . .
Cited – Breams Property Investment Co Ltd v Stroulger CA 1948
An agreement by a landlord in a periodic tenancy not to serve notice to quit for three years unless it required the premises for its own use was valid.
Scott LJ said: ‘The phrase ‘subject-matter of the lease’ was, as we know, substituted for . .
Cited – Kusel v Watson CA 1879
A tenant in the house let it to K at a fixed rent, with a lease at the same rent ‘at any period he may feel disposed’ and more not to molest or disturb him or raise his rent after Kusel had spent money to improve the house. K spent the money and now . .
Cited – Bass Holdings Ltd v Lewis CA 29-Jul-1986
The appellant, Mr Lewis had been granted a tenancy by the appellant on its standard terms. Notice was given to terminate the tenancy. The tenant appealed against a ruling that he had not acquired a tenaancy for 90 years under the 1925 Act.
Cited – Milmo v Carreras CA 1946
Privity of estate between the assignee and the lessor creates liability in the lessor only in respect of covenants which run with the land.
What was plainly stated and understood by the parties to be an underlease operated as an assignment of . .
Cited – In Re Carne’s Settled Estates 1899
A right to occupy for life, arising by settlement gives to the occupier an equitable interest in the land. . .
Cited – Bruton v London and Quadrant Housing Trust HL 24-Jun-1999
The claimant sought to oblige the respondent to repair his flat under the 1988 Act. The respondent replied that the arrangement was a licence only, and not protected under the Act.
Held: The housing association had a temporary licence to . .
Cited – Redpath v White 1737
The court considered the status of a lease of indefinte term. . .
Cited – Crighton v Lord Air 1631
The grant of a lease was to the tenant and his heirs and successors for five years and after that a further five years and then five years for ever. The argument that the lease was a nullity because it did not say when it was to come to an end was . .
Cited – Carruthers v Irvine 1717
A lease was granted expressed to be ‘perpetually and continually as long as the grass groweth up and the water runneth down’. The grantor died and his heir sought to remove the tenant on the ground that the lease did not say when it was to come to . .
Cited – Skipton Building Society v Clayton CA 1993
The wife claimed that the husband had forged the mortgage document. The Society said that she had allowed them to believe that she had consented to the charge. Slade LJ set out the principle: ‘in a case where A, the holder of the legal estate in . .
Cited – Reardon Smith Line Ltd v Yngvar Hansen-Tangen (The ‘Diana Prosperity’) HL 1976
In construing a contract, three principles can be found. The contextual scene is always relevant. Secondly, what is admissible as a matter of the rules of evidence under this heading is what is arguably relevant, but admissibility is not decisive. . .

Cited by:

Cited – Chaudhary v Yavuz CA 22-Nov-2011
The court was asked ‘whether and if so how an easement arising informally and not protected by any entry at the Land Registry can be effective against a purchaser of the land over which the easement would be exercised.’ The parties respectively . .
Cited – Hardy and Another v Haselden and Others CA 29-Nov-2011
The claimants had taken up occupation of a farm under an informal arrangement which they now said amounted to a tenancy for ther lives. The freeholder’s, personal representatives of the original grantors, appealed against a declaration accordingly. . .
Cited – Southward Housing Co-Operative Ltd v Walker and Another ChD 8-Jun-2015
The court was asked as to the nature and effect of tenancies for life granted by fully mutual housing co-operatives and in particular how they can lawfully be brought to an end and a possession order obtained. The tenants sought a declaration of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 26 September 2022; Ref: scu.448291

69 Marina, St Leonards-On-Sea, Freeholders of v Oram and Another: CA 8 Nov 2011

The parties disputed the liability on lessees to contribute to a service charge for maintenance of common parts of the building. The six tenants covenanted to pay a proper proportion of the landlord’s costs of meeting his repair obligations. The landlord executed repair after a water leak. Two tenants argued that the cost was too high, and that there had been insuffficient consultation. The landlord applied to the tribunal, which dispensed with the consultation requirements, and divided the entire cost pro rata by the rating values. The tenants did not pay, and the landlord took proceedings in the County Court from which they now appealed. The landlord was seeking the costs of his application to the LVT, which were not recoverable there.
Held: The costs of preparing the application were recoverable under the lease, and were payable by the tenants whose actions had required the reference.

Judges:

Sir Andrew Morritt, Hooper, Rafferty LJJ

Citations:

[2011] EWCA Civ 1258

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 18, Law of Property Act 1925 146, Housing Act 1996 81(1), Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 168

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 26 September 2022; Ref: scu.448130

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 to create a right to enfranchisement. The landlord said this was artificial, and having been done without his consent was ineffective.
Held: The ruse was effective. At common law, an assignment of part of a leased property by which all of the leased property is physically severed has the effect that the holder of each severed part becomes the tenant of the severed part only. Whilst the statute had not envisaged such a scheme, it could not be said to be ineffective.
Lord Neuberger MR considered that the case law established that, at common law: ‘i) The assignee’s liability to pay the rent and perform the obligations of the lessee depend on privity of estate alone;
ii) If the assignee is the assignee of part only of the leased property then the rent and other obligations for which he is liable are those referable to the part of the leased property assigned to him;
iii) He is not liable for the rent or other obligations referable to the part of the leased property that has not been assigned to him;
iv) The rationale for these propositions is that the assignee only has privity of estate as regards the part of the leased property of which he is the assignee. He has no privity of estate as regards that part of the leased property that has not been assigned to him;
v) The landlord may enter any part of the leased land and distrain for the rent for the whole. But the remedy of distress has nothing to do with privity of estate, save to the extent that a relation of landlord and tenant must exist.’

Judges:

Lord Neuberger MR, Aikens, Lewison LJJ

Citations:

[2011] EWCA Civ 1251, [2011] WLRD 314

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 5

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Spencer’s Case KBD 1572
. .
Cited – Congham v King 1631
An action in covenant would lie against an assignee of part of the land comprised in a lease for not repairing his part. Such a covenant was divisible and followed the land. . .
Cited – Gamon v Vernon 1793
The landlord sued an assignee of half the land for half the rent. He defended on the ground that he was not liable for any part of the rent because both privity of contract and privity of estate remained in the original tenant.
Held: The . .
Cited – Corporation of City of London v Fell and Others HL 3-Dec-1993
The original tenant under a lease was not liable for arrears of rent on a tenancy continued after an assignment and after the original contract term has ended. The right of a transferee of the reversion to recover rent is, both in common law and . .
Cited – City of London Corp v Fell and Others: Herbert Duncan Ltd v Cluttons (A firm) CA 31-Mar-1993
An original Tenant is not liable for arrears arising on the tenancy extended by an assignee beyond the original term.
The vesting of the leasehold estate in the tenant carried with it the burden of covenants that touched and concerned the . .
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 – Dooner v Odlum 1914
(Kings Bench Division – Ireland) Dodd J said: ‘The rent, according to the authorities I have cited, is divisible. There is absolutely no evidence and no presumption upon which to found an inference that she holds an undivided share in the lands . .
Cited – Dooner v Odlum 2-Jan-1914
(Court of Appeal – Ireland) The court affirmed the decision in the King’s Bench.
Cherry LCJ said: ‘The law is, I think, well settled that where a lessee of demised premises assigns portion of these premises to a stranger, the assignee is liable . .
Cited – United Dairies Ltd v Public Trustee 1922
Greer J discussed the effect in law of the division and assignment of a tenanted property: ‘Where the leased property has been physically divided amongst two or more assignees it is clear that the obligations of the lease, so far as they affect the . .
Cited – Holloway And Another v Berkeley 1826
The court considered the law applicable to heriots, an incident of manorial tenures such as copyhold. Bayley J said that where a tenement is subdivided ‘each tenant holds his share in severalty.’ . .
Cited – Curtis And Others, Executors of Curtis v Spitty KBD 27-May-1834
The landlord had sued the defendant for the whole of the rent. He pleaded that all the interest of the lessee in the lease and the demised land had been assigned to the defendant. The defendant denied that plea. Issue was joined on that question. At . .
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 – Lester v Ridd CA 1990
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 . .
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. . .
Mentioned – 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. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 26 September 2022; Ref: scu.448092

Wolff v Wolff: ChD 6 Sep 2004

The court considered its ability to redraw a document where its legal effect was misunderstood.

Judges:

Mann J

Citations:

[2004] EWHC 2110 (Ch), [2004] STI 2068, [2004] WTLR 1349, [2004] STC 1633, [2009] BTC 8017, [2004] NPC 135

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Pitt and Another v Holt and Others ChD 18-Jan-2010
The deceased had created a settlement in favour of his wife. He suffered serious injury and placed the damages in trust, but in a form which created an unnecessary liability to Inheritance Tax on his death. The wife’s mental health act receiver now . .
Cited – Pitt and Another v Holt and Another ChD 18-Jan-2010
The claimant sought to unravel a settlement she had made as receiver for her late husband, saying that it had been made without consideration of its Inheritance Tax implications. The Revenue said that there was no operative mistake so as to allow . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Inheritance Tax, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 25 September 2022; Ref: scu.231585

Littman, Young v Aspen Oil (Broking) Ltd: ChD 1 Jul 2005

The tenant sought to exercise a break clause in the lease. The landlord said that the exercise of the right was subject to the tenant having first complied with the terms of the lease.
Held: There was an obvious mistake in the clause which should have referred to a notice given by the tenant and not by the landlord. The tenant’s solicitor had been aware of the mistake, but at the same time the landlord had sought to introduce the conditionality which he knew the tenant would not have accepted. The landlord’s solicitor had been open, if mistaken, and ‘equity does not usually proceed upon the basis that two wrongs make a right.’ The court would have ordered rectification if it was necessary.

Judges:

Hart J

Citations:

[2005] EWHC 1369 (Ch)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Holding and Barnes Plc v Hill House Hammond Ltd (No 1) CA 20-Jul-2001
There had been a sale of an insurance business under which there were to be granted seven leases, two of which related to complete buildings and five to parts of buildings. All seven leases contained landlord’s repairing covenants. One of the leases . .
Cited – JIS (1974) Ltd v MCP Investment Nominees I Ltd CA 9-Apr-2003
The parties agreed for a lease to be granted of a new building. Part had been intended to be excluded for shops, but permission was not obtained, the shops area was included and leased back. When the tenants sought to determine the lease, the . .
Cited – Thomas Bates and Sons Ltd v Wyndham’s Lingerie Ltd CA 21-Nov-1980
An application was made for rectification of a rent review clause in a lease. When executing the lease, the tenants’ officer, Mr Avon, noticed that the rent review clause in the lease drafted by the landlords was defective in not including a . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Littman and Another v Aspen Oil (Broking) Ltd CA 19-Dec-2005
A lease had been granted with a break clause, which the tenant exercised. The Landlord said it had not complied with its obligations and was not free to exercise that clause. The clause had included the word ‘landlord’ where it should have read . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 25 September 2022; Ref: scu.228238

Maurice and Others v Hollow-Ware Products Ltd: ChD 15 Mar 2005

The tenants occupied the building under subleases created out of a head lease which also included other land. They served a notice requiring new leases. The landlord objected that this envisaged not the grant of a new lease in substitution of the older lease, and also that the existing head lease would be left in place as regards the property not comprised in the building, and the notice would therefore require an amendment of that lease, for which there was no provision in the statute.
Held: The Act envisaged that such situations would indeed required the amendment of existing leases. The issue under the Act was first whether the tenants were qualifying tenants. The Act defined ‘qualifying tenants’ in terms which clearly applied to these tenants. Section 56(1)(a) could be read to provide that the new leases should stand in substitution for the existing leases to the extent of the premises. Any adjustment to the rent under the headlease could be settled by applying common law principles.

Judges:

David Donaldson QC

Citations:

Times 31-Mar-2005, [2005] EWHC 815 (Ch), [2005] 2 EGLR 71, [2005] 26 EG 132

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Leasehold Reform and Urban Development Act 1993 43

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Cadogan and others v 26 Cadogan Square Ltd, Howard de Walden Estates Limited v Aggio and others HL 25-Jun-2008
In each case all or part of a building was let by a head-lease and then as self-contained units under sub-leases. The head lessees had served notices under the 1993 Act requiring new leases. The freeholder denied that they were qualifying tenants, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 25 September 2022; Ref: scu.223934

The Prudential Assurance Company Ltd v Ayres and Grew: ChD 3 Apr 2007

The defendants argued that they were not liable as guarantors under an Authorised Guarantee Agreement for a lease when the assignee tenant had become insolvent.
Held: The guarantors were liable provided that the extent of the claim did not exceed their original liability.

Judges:

Lindsay J

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 775 (Ch)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 1

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd KBD 18-Jul-1946
Promissory Estoppel Created
The plaintiff leased a block a flats to the defendant in 1939, at an annual rental of pounds 2500. High Trees had difficulty in filling the flats because of the war, and the parties agreed in writing in 1940 to reduce the rental to a half. No time . .
Cited – Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society HL 19-Jun-1997
Account taken of circumstances wihout ambiguity
The respondent gave advice on home income plans. The individual claimants had assigned their initial claims to the scheme, but later sought also to have their mortgages in favour of the respondent set aside.
Held: Investors having once . .
Cited – Rennie v Westbury Homes (Holdings) Ltd ChD 7-Feb-2007
The parties had entered into an option agreement for development of land. The developer purported to exercise an option extendng the applicable period, but having accepted the funds, the land owner denied that it had been validly exercised.
Cited – Laemthong International Lines Company Ltd v Abdullah Mohammed Fahem and Co CA 5-May-2005
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 25 September 2022; Ref: scu.250708

Hughes v Metropolitan Railway Co: HL 1877

A notice to repair had been served by the landlord on the tenant. The tenant wrote offering to buy the premises and proposed deferring the commencement of repairs until the landlord responded. The landlord replied by letter asking the price. It was held that those letters had the effect of suspending the notice. The tenant’s letter was ‘a definite intimation . . that they would not proceed to execute the repairs . . if they found that there was a possibility of an agreement to purchase being come to.’ Of the courses open to the landlord, he had taken the course that he said to the tenant ‘I will adopt what you propose and enter upon a negotiation.’
More generally: (Cairns LC) ‘It is the first principle upon which all courts of equity proceed, that if parties who have entered into a definite and distinct terms involving certain legal results, certain penalties or legal forfeiture, afterwards by their own act or with their own consent enter upon a course of negotiation which has the effect of leading one of the parties to suppose that the strict rights arising under the contract will not be enforced, or will be kept in suspense or held in abeyance, the person who otherwise might have enforced those rights will not be allowed to enforce them where it would be inequitable having regard to the dealings which have taken place between the parties’ (Lord O’Hagan) ‘If there was real misleading and bona fide mistake, it does not matter that the Plaintiff acted honestly and without indirect purpose of any kind.’

Judges:

Cairns LC, Lord O’Hagan

Citations:

[1877] 2 App Cas 439, [1877] 46 LJQB 583, [1877] UKHL 1

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Applied – Ace Insurance Sa-Nv v Surendranath Seechurn CA 6-Feb-2002
The claimant sought payment under an insurance policy for his permanent disability. The judge had found that the defendant insurers had indicated a readiness to continue negotiations beyond the limitation period, and that they would apply for a stay . .
Applied – Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd KBD 18-Jul-1946
Promissory Estoppel Created
The plaintiff leased a block a flats to the defendant in 1939, at an annual rental of pounds 2500. High Trees had difficulty in filling the flats because of the war, and the parties agreed in writing in 1940 to reduce the rental to a half. No time . .
Cited – Dun and Bradstreet Software Services (England) Ltd; Dun and Bradstreet Software Services Ltd v Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association and General Accident Linked Life Assurance CA 9-Jun-1997
Break clauses had been exercised on behalf of the plaintiffs. The defendant landlords appealed a decision upholding the notices. A penalty rent had been sought.
Held: There had been no sufficient agency established to validate the notice. The . .
Cited – Tool Metal Manufactuing Company Ltd v Tungsten Electric Company Ltd HL 16-Jun-1955
The principle in Hughes v Metropolitan Railway could apply to a reduction by concession in payments due to a creditor and a concession could be terminated by giving reasonable notice. . .
Cited – Collier v P and M J Wright (Holdings) Ltd CA 14-Dec-2007
Agreement for payment by joint debtor not contract
The claimant appealed against refusal of an order to set aside a statutory demand. He said that he had compromised a claim by the creditors. He argued for an extension to the Rule in Pinnel’s case, so that where a debtor agrees to pay part of a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Estoppel, Landlord and Tenant

Leading Case

Updated: 25 September 2022; Ref: scu.183472

Dun and Bradstreet Software Services (England) Ltd; Dun and Bradstreet Software Services Ltd v Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association and General Accident Linked Life Assurance: CA 9 Jun 1997

Break clauses had been exercised on behalf of the plaintiffs. The defendant landlords appealed a decision upholding the notices. A penalty rent had been sought.
Held: There had been no sufficient agency established to validate the notice. The timely payment of the penalty rent was of the essence. The appeal was allowed.

Judges:

Lord Justice Simon Brown Lord Justice Peter Gibson Mr Justice Mccullough

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 1816

Statutes:

Distress for Rent Act 1737, Landlord and Tenant Act 1730

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Jones v Phipps QBD 1868
For many years, an agent had, with the authority of his principals, dealt with an estate as his own and negotiated with the tenant as to the terms and continuance of the holding.
Held: It was incidental to that authority that he should . .
Cited – Townsends Carriers Ltd v Pfizer Ltd 1977
A break notice had been served not by the tenant company but by an associated company, the service not being on the landlord company but an associated company.
Held: Because the tenant and the landlord had allowed their respective associated . .
Cited – Re Knight and Hubbard’s Underlease 1923
The court considered the validity of a notice to determine an underlease. The beneficial owner of the reversion was a friendly society, all of whose property was vested in trustees of the society holding as nominees, and for the exclusive benefit, . .
Cited – Peel Developments (South) Ltd v Siemens plc 1992
A break notice was served by the tenants on a subsidiary of the landlord company. That subsidiary was found to have acted as managing agent of the property.
Held: On the evidence that the management of the property was carried out by the . .
Cited – Harmond Properties Ltd v Gajdzis CA 1968
The County Court decided that a notice to quit given to a tenant by a director of the landlord company in his own name was valid.
Held: The decision was correct. The director had carried out the letting and acted as if he were the landlord in . .
Cited – Stait v Fenner 1912
The lease to Fenner contained a break clause. The lease was legally assigned to X and then to Y. Y then agreed to assign back to Fenner (but no formal assignment was entered). Fenner then ‘assigned’ to Z (the contract saying that he was not obliged . .
Cited – United Scientific Holdings v Burnley Borough Council HL 1978
The House was asked whether a failure by a lessor to keep strictly to the timetable laid down in a rent review clause in a lease necessarily deprived the lessor of the benefit of the rent review.
Held: A stipulation as to time in an option . .
Cited – Union Eagle Limited v Golden Achievement Limited PC 3-Feb-1997
(Hong Kong) The parties had contracted with each other for the sale of land. Completion was to take place on the appointed day at 5:00pm. A ten per cent deposit had been paid, and time had been made of the essence. The seller sought to rescind the . .
Cited – Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd KBD 18-Jul-1946
Promissory Estoppel Created
The plaintiff leased a block a flats to the defendant in 1939, at an annual rental of pounds 2500. High Trees had difficulty in filling the flats because of the war, and the parties agreed in writing in 1940 to reduce the rental to a half. No time . .
Cited – Hughes v Metropolitan Railway Co HL 1877
A notice to repair had been served by the landlord on the tenant. The tenant wrote offering to buy the premises and proposed deferring the commencement of repairs until the landlord responded. The landlord replied by letter asking the price. It was . .
Cited – Taylors Fashions Ltd v Liverpool Victoria Trustees Co Ltd ChD 1981
The fundamental principle that equity is concerned to prevent unconscionable conduct permeates all the elements of the doctrine of estoppel. In the light of the more recent cases, the principle ‘requires a very much broader approach which is . .
Cited – Woodhouse AC Israel Cocoa Ltd SA v Nigerian Produce Marketing Co Ltd HL 1972
To found a promissory estoppel there has to be a clear and unequivocal representation as to the intended actions of the defendant.
Lord Hailsham LC reiterated the proposition derived from Low v Bouverie that in order to give rise to an . .
Cited – Amalgamated Investment and Property Co Ltd (in Liq) v Texas Commerce International Bank Ltd CA 1982
The court explained the nature of an estoppel by convention.
Lord Denning MR said: ‘The doctrine of estoppel is one of the most flexible and useful in the armoury of the law. But it has become overloaded with cases. That is why I have not gone . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 25 September 2022; Ref: scu.142212