Category: Landlord and Tenant

Lewis v MTC Cars Ltd: ChD 1974

The landlord served notice in a form which contained two alternatives, but he failed to strike out one. He added a statement as to why he opposed a new tenancy.
Held: The notice was effective.
Templeman J said: ‘No one reading that notice can be in the slightest doubt; the landlord accidently failed to strike out the first sentence and intended to oppose an application to the court for the reasons set forth in the notice. Indeed Mr Colyer, who appeared for the defendants, did not contend that there was any doubt or ambiguity, but said that the notice did not comply with the Act, because it did not contain the positive statement required by the Act . . In the present case it would be perverse to turn a blind eye to the clear intention of the landlord as expressed in the notice, with the result that the notice does, in my judgment, on its true construction, state that which section 25(6) requires to be stated.’
Russell LJ said: ‘It is quite plain that if you find one person in occupation paying sums by way of rent quarterly or half-yearly to another person, ordinarily speaking it is a right conclusion that there is a relationship between them of contractual landlord and tenant; but, of course, the circumstances may show that there is no justification for such an inference.’

Judges:

Templeman J

Citations:

[1974] 1 WLR 1499

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 25(6)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Barclays Bank plc v Bee and Another CA 10-Jul-2001
The landlord’s solicitors, by mistake, sent two notices to the tenant in the same letter. One notice opposed the grant of a new tenancy but on an invalid ground, and the other said a new tenancy would not be opposed. The tenant sought clarification. . .
Appeal from – Lewis v MTC Cars Ltd CA 1975
Russell LJ said: ‘It is quite plain that if you find one person in occupation paying sums by way of rent quarterly or half-yearly to another person, ordinarily speaking it is a right conclusion that there is a relationship between them of . .
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: 10 September 2022; Ref: scu.214626

Ricci v Masons: 1993

The tenant sued his solicitor who had failed to make application to the court in time to secure his right to a new tenancy. As a result, the tenant had had to accept a five year contracted out lease, as opposed to a 10 year lease with a break clause.
Held: The damages were to be measured as the difference in value between the two leases, in this case set at pounds 100,000.

Citations:

[1993] 3 EG LR 159

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1954

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant, Professional Negligence, Damages

Updated: 10 September 2022; Ref: scu.216642

Bluestorm Ltd v Portvale Holdings Ltd: CA 13 Feb 2004

The appellant was a lessee of some premises within a development. They purchased the freehold through a subsidiary but then failed to make repairs. When the other tenants withheld the service charges, the company was liquidated. Another tenant became the unwilling landlord, and the appellant then sued the new landlord for failure to repair. The company appealed dismissal of its claim.
Held: The company was behaving inequitably, and the claim failed.

Judges:

Lords Justice Buxton and Maurice Kay, and Sir Martin Nourse

Citations:

[2004] EWCA Civ 289, Gazette 26-Feb-2004

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Halsall v Brizell ChD 1957
Land in Liverpool was sold in building plots. The vendors retained the roads and sewers and a promenade and sea wall. A separate deed of covenant of 1851 between the vendors and the owners of the plots which had by then been sold, recited that the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 10 September 2022; Ref: scu.194671