Category: Landlord and Tenant

Biggin Hill Airport Ltd v Bromley London Borough Council: CA 11 Jul 2001

A lease of an airport included a restriction to limit use to ‘business aviation’. The landlord argued that this had a special meaning in the industry so as to exclude use by chartered and scheduled services. The judge had been correct to say that no such special meaning existed, but had been wrong to interpret that phrase without looking to the factual background. Applying those facts, the use was to be interpreted so as to allow use of aircraft, including chartered aircraft, for business purposes, as within the context of the business of the aircraft owner or charterer for business purposes, but so as to exclude offering transport to members of the public for reward save in an incidental way. The phrase ‘other uses related to an airport or related to aviation’ did not permit other flying activities.

Judges:

Pill LJ, Arden J, Dyson LJ

Citations:

Times 13-Aug-2001, Gazette 31-Aug-2001, [2001] EWCA Civ 1089

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant, Transport, Contract

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.159480

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. The landlord’s solicitors purported to withdraw both notices, and served a third notice opposing the grant of a new tenancy.
Held: A notice once served could not be withdrawn. The first invalid notice was of no effect, but the second contradicted it, and an informed and reasonable tenant would not be able to ascertain the intention of the landlord from the first two notices. The net effect was that no valid notice had been given in the first two notices, and the landlord could serve the third and effective notice to bind itself not to oppose the grant of a new tenancy.

Judges:

Aldous LJ, Arden LJ, Wilson J

Citations:

Times 03-Aug-2001, Gazette 06-Sep-2001, [2001] EWCA Civ 1126, [2001] 29 EG 121 (CS)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 25

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Byrnlea Property Investments Ltd v Ramsay CA 1969
It was a requirement under the 1967 Act for the notice of a lessee, seeking to extend his interest under that Act, to indicate whether he was seeking the freehold or an extended lease. The tenant failed to do so.
Held: This failure was fatal. . .
Cited – Mannai Investment Co Ltd v Eagle Star Assurance HL 21-May-1997
Minor Irregularity in Break Notice Not Fatal
Leases contained clauses allowing the tenant to break the lease by serving not less than six months notice to expire on the third anniversary of the commencement date of the term of the lease. The tenant gave notice to determine the leases on 12th . .
Cited – 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 . .
Cited – Carradine Properties Ltd v Aslam ChD 1976
Under a break clause in a lease, the relevant date upon which a notice given by either party under the clause might take effect was a date in September 1975, but the landlord’s notice in September 1974 specified a date in 1973. The date in 1973, had . .

Cited by:

Cited – Lay and others v Ackerman and Another CA 4-Mar-2004
Notices had been served by tenants under the Acts. The properties were on a large estate where the freeholds had been divided and assigned to different bodies, and there were inconsistencies in identifying the landlords. The landlords served a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.159491

Hand v Hall: CA 1877

An agreement was made on January 26 1876 for a tenancy until Midsummer 12 months from February 14 1876.
Held: The agreement operated as a devise within the exception in section 2 of the Statute of Frauds.

Citations:

(1877) 2 ExD 355

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Long v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council ChD 20-Mar-1996
The parties had agreed for a lease, and the tenant entered possession, but no formal lease was executed. The tenant stopped paying rent in 1977 or 1984. He now claimed rectification of the registers to show him as proprietor. The landlord argued . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.263780

Merie Bin Mahfouz Company (UK) Ltd v Barrie House (Freehold) Ltd: UTLC 8 Dec 2014

UTLC Leasehold enfranchisement – collective enfranchisement – leasebacks under Schedule 9 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 – units not in existence at the relevant date – common parts at the relevant date – rights over the common parts – leasebacks of commercial premises

Citations:

[2014] UKUT 390 (LC)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Green v Ashco Horticulturist Ltd 1966
F granted T a lease reserving the right to deal with all rights in the property as F wanted. T used the back court and gate for business deliveries but then F granted the freehold to the plaintiff, who in turn denied all right to use the back court . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.552353

Parker v Briggs: CA 1893

‘the appellants contend . . that a parol lease to commence at a future date was in point of law and in fact an agreement for a lease, and as such must be in writing under section 4 of the Statute of Frauds, even though the lease agreed to be granted were for a less period than three years (Edge v Strafford 1 Cr and J 391) . .The court, however, decided against the appellants . . two of the learned judges holding that it was possible to create a parol lease to commence in the future (Ryley v Hicks Stra 651)’

Citations:

(1893) 37 Sol Jo 452

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Long v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council ChD 20-Mar-1996
The parties had agreed for a lease, and the tenant entered possession, but no formal lease was executed. The tenant stopped paying rent in 1977 or 1984. He now claimed rectification of the registers to show him as proprietor. The landlord argued . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.263782

Chung Ping Kwan and others v Lam Island Development Company Limited: PC 8 Jul 1996

(Hong Kong) Various provisions had been made for the termination of long leases in Hong Kong. Land had come to be occupied by adverse possession. At first instance the judge had given judgment against the squatters, but then retracted after a later court of appeal decision. The Court of Appeal re-instated the first order.
Held: The squatter against a leasehold title could acquire only a title equivalent to that of the leasehold interest. When a squatter on land held under a renewable lease is sued and pleads a limitation defence, the lessee is unable to respond by relying upon the (deemed) new lease as a new title setting time running afresh.

Judges:

Lord Keith of Kinkel Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead Lord Steyn Sir Christopher Slade

Citations:

Times 16-Jul-1996, [1996] UKPC 23

Links:

Bailii

Citing:

Approved – Taylor v Twinberrow 1930
It was a misunderstanding of the legal effect of 12 years adverse possession under the Limitation Acts to treat it as if it gave a title: ‘the operation of the statute in giving a title is merely negative; it extinguishes the right and title of the . .
Distinguished – St Marylebone Property Co Ltd v Fairweather HL 16-Apr-1962
To defeat a defence of adverse possession, the plaintiff must succeed in an action which itself had been commenced within the twelve year period. A squatter does not succeed to the title that he has disturbed: by sufficiently long adverse possession . .
Cited – Bree v Scott 1904
(Supreme Court of Victoria) The defendant squatted from 1878 upon land allotted to her mother as Crown licensee. A Crown licensee was entitled to acquire the fee upon performance of obligations in the licence. In 1885 a Crown grant was duly issued . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Commonwealth, Limitation, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.159181

Cadogan Estates Limited v McMahon: HL 26 Oct 2000

When a tenancy was terminated and was followed by a statutory tenancy, a term in the contractual tenancy that the tenancy should be forfeit on the tenant’s bankruptcy was continued in and inherited by the statutory tenancy. Though perhaps in conveyancing terms there was no positive obligation not to become bankrupt, the Acts should be interpreted in the context of the legislation as a whole. There was no reason in principle to distinguish between forfeiture for non-payment of rent, and a proviso for re-entry on insolvency.
‘The Rent Acts were enacted in haste and in places badly drafted, and have greatly perplexed judges of the greatest distinction over many decades . . But unless the words used are inconsistent with the policy of the Acts they must be given their natural meaning. Since the proviso for re-entry has no possible application to a statutory tenancy, there is no policy reason to distinguish between a statutory tenancy which follows the determination of a contractual tenancy which contains such a proviso and a statutory tenancy which follows the determination of one which does not. ‘

Judges:

Lord Bingham of Cornhill Lord Steyn Lord Hoffmann Lord Hutton Lord Millett

Citations:

Times 01-Nov-2000, Gazette 09-Nov-2000, Gazette 16-Nov-2000, [2000] 3 WLR 1555, [2000] UKHL 52, [2001] 1 EGLR 47, [2001] BPIR 17, [2001] 1 AC 378, (2001) 81 P and CR DG11, (2001) 33 HLR 42, [2000] 4 All ER 897, [2001] L and TR 2, [2000] NPC 110, [2000] EG 119, [2001] 06 EG 164

Links:

House of Lords, House of Lords, House of Lords, House of Lords, Bailii

Statutes:

Rent Act 1977

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Cadogan Estates Ltd v McMahon CA 9-Jun-1999
A provision in a tenancy agreement that the tenancy would cease upon the bankruptcy of the tenant, continued and became part of the terms of a statutory tenancy following the contractual one. The provision was not inconsistent with the idea of the . .
Cited – In re Drew (A Bankrupt) 1929
(Ireland) A tenant subject to a re-entry clause in his tenancy agreement in the case of his being made bankrupt, and who had gone bankrupt had broken an obligation of his tenancy. He was not protected from an order for possession. ‘The tenant here . .
Cited – RMR Housing Society Ltd v Combs 1951
The court considered it unnecessary to distinguish between terms and conditions of a tenancy forfeiting the tenancy on the insolvency of the tenant as to the result or effect for their breach. . .
Cited – Paterson v Aggio CA 1987
The Court considered whether a tenancy was a ‘protected shorthold tenancy’ within the meaning of section 52 of the Housing Act 1980 and therefore excluded from the protection of the Rent Act 1977.
Held: A power to forfeit within the minimum . .
Cited – Halliard Property Co Ltd v Jack Segal Ltd 1978
The court considered a proviso for re-entry that: ‘forfeiture on the bankruptcy of the lessee is considered as a case of breach of condition.’
Held: It was clearly a condition rather than a mere covenant of the original protected tenancy that . .
Cited – Read v Goater 1921
As to the Rent Acts, it was essential ‘that, wherever possible, [they] should be construed in a broad, practical, common-sense manner so as to effect the intention of the Legislature’ . .
Cited – Remon v City of London Real Property Co Ltd CA 1921
The court was asked whether the plaintiff, a tenant of rooms to which (once enacted) the Act of 1920 applied and who had been excluded from possession by the landlord’s re-entry on the day that the Act came into force following service of a notice . .
Cited – Brewer v Jacobs 1923
A proviso for re-entry in a tenancy is inapplicable to a statutory tenancy. It is concerned with the forfeiture of an existing term and can have no application after the contractual term has expired. Once the statutory tenancy has come into being, . .
Cited – Roe v Russell CA 1928
Sargant LJ said that the Rent Acts had ‘not been framed with any scientific accuracy of language.’ . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant, Housing, Insolvency

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.159086

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 occupy a house and to re-let it, but under conditions which were more consistent with a tenancy rather than a licence. The claimant’s occupation was deemed to be under a tenancy and not a licence, despite assertions to the contrary. Exclusive possession for repeated periods of time created a tenancy.
Lord Hoffmann said that an agreement can give rise to a tenancy even if it does not create ‘an estate or other proprietary interest which may be binding upon third parties

Judges:

Lord Slynn of Hadley, Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Hobhouse of Wood-borough

Citations:

Gazette 14-Jul-1999, Times 25-Jun-1999, Gazette 21-Jul-1999, [1999] 3 All ER 481, [2000] 1 AC 406, [1999] UKHL 26, [1999] 2 EGLR 59, [1999] 3 WLR 150, [1999] EG 90, [1999] L and TR 469, (1999) 31 HLR 902, [1999] NPC 73, [1999] 30 EG 91, (1999) 78 P and CR D21

Links:

House of Lords, Bailii

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1988

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

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 – Westminster City Council v Clarke HL 29-Apr-1992
An occupant of a hostel for homeless and vulnerable single men had only a licence to occupy the room, and was not a tenant. There was a resident warden and a team of support workers. The intention was that residents should use the hostel as a . .
Cited – Family Association v Jones CA 1990
The association as licensee of a local authority granted what was described as a licence to the defendant to occupy premises on a temporary basis. They sought possession.
Held: A tenancy had been granted. As to the argument that there were . .
Cited – Lewisham Borough Council v Roberts CA 1949
The council sought to exercise its powers under the Act to take possession of part of the defendant’s property.
Held: Denning LJ said: ‘It is necessary to consider the nature of the power to requisition land. It is only a power to take . .
Cited – Morton v Woods QBD 1867
The owner of a factory, having already conveyed his legal estate by virtue of a first charge, purported to grant a second mortgage to a bank. As additional security, he ‘attorned tenant’ to the bank. He acknowledged a relationship of landlord and . .
Cited – Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries v Matthews 1950
Under the Act, it would be ultra vires the Crown’s powers to grant a tenancy of property it had requisitioned. . .
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. . .
Appeal from – Bruton v London and Quadrant Housing Trust CA 31-Jul-1997
A person with no sufficient title to land cannot create a tenancy of the land which would be binding by an estoppel if that tenancy would exclude his own possible claim for possession. . .

Cited by:

Cited – Kay, Gorman, etc v London Borough of Lambeth, London and Quadrant Housing Trust CA 20-Jul-2004
The defendant local authority had licenced houses to a housing trust, which in turn granted sub-licences to the claimants who were applicants for housing under homelessness provisions, and who now asserted that they became secure tenants of the . .
Cited – 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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant, Housing

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.159009

Newlon Housing Trust v Alsulaimen and Another: HL 29 Jul 1998

A tenancy which had been terminated by a notice given by one of the joint tenants had expired. It did not come to an end by any deed, and so was not capable of being set aside by a family court in the course of divorce proceedings. The possession proceedings issued by the landlord could not be resisted. Statutory tenancies, whether arising under the Rent Act 1977 or the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976 – are not properly to be regarded as a form of property; rather, they confer a ‘status of irremovability’.

Judges:

Lord Goff of Chieveley, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Saville of Newdigate

Citations:

Times 20-Aug-1998, Gazette 16-Sep-1998, [1998] UKHL 35, [1999] 1 AC 313, [1998] 4 All ER 1, [1998] 3 WLR 451

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 24 37(2)(b), Rent Act 1977

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council v Monk HL 5-Dec-1991
One tenant of two joint tenants of a house left and was granted a new tenancy on condition that the existing one of the house, still occupied by her former partner, was determined. She gave a notice to quit as requested, the council claimed . .
Appeal from – Newlon Housing Trust v Alsulaimen CA 16-Jan-1997
The tenant had been joint tenant with his wife of a house. On the breakdown of the marriage, she left and gave notice to quit to the council. The council sought and obtained an order for possession, against which the husband now sought leave to . .

Cited by:

Cited – Barrett and others v Morgan HL 27-Jan-2000
The landlord served a notice to quit on the head tenant under an understanding that the head tenant would not serve a counter notice. The effect was to determine the head and sub-tenancy. It acted as a notice to quit, and despite the consensual . .
Cited – Gay v Sheeran, London Borough of Enfield CA 18-Jun-1999
The ability for a court to order the transfer of a secure tenancy between partners under the Act depended upon the court first making an occupation order in favour of the party from whom the tenancy was to be transferred, but the order could be made . .
Cited – Sims v Dacorum Borough Council CA 24-Jan-2013
Husband and wife had been joint tenants of the council. On the breakdown of the marriage, W gave notice to quit. H defended the council’s possession action, saying that it was an infringement of his human rights for him to lose his tenancy and home. . .
Cited – Notting Hill Housing Trust v Brackley and Another CA 24-Apr-2001
One of two joint tenants was able to give a notice to quit a joint periodic tenancy, without first referring to the co-tenant. If this was inappropriate, then it was for Parliament to change the law. Such a notice was not the exercise of a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Family, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.158966

Ingram and Another v Commissioners of Inland Revenue: HL 10 Dec 1998

To protect her estate from Inheritance Tax, the deceased gave land to her solicitor, but then took back a lease. The solicitor then conveyed the land on freehold on to members of her family.
Held: The lease-back by the nominee was not void as a grant of a lease to herself.
Lord Hoffmann said: ‘whether the equitable obligation to grant a lease back to Lady Ingram is regarded as imposed on the trustees or on the beneficiaries, this obligation arose as soon as the freehold vested in the trustees. In the present case there never was a time when, in equity, the donees held the property free from the donor’s leasehold interest, and I am in agreement with the observation of Ferris J . . that: ‘In terms of substance, Lady Ingram had her leasehold interests from the very same moment that the trustees and beneficiaries had the property subject to those interests.” and ‘viewing the substance of the transaction, I consider that what was comprised in the gift made by Lady Ingram was the freehold shorn of the leasehold interest, and section 102 does not apply. ‘
In effect the first gift to the solicitor was a gift which did not include the leasehold carved from it, and therefore validity of the the leases was not in issue. The appeal was allowed. Section 102 did not apply.
‘a trustee in English law is not an agent for his beneficiary. He contracts in his own name with a right of indemnity against the beneficiary for the liabilities he has incurred.’

Judges:

Lord Browne-Wilkinson, Lord Steyn, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Clyde, Lord Hutton

Citations:

[1998] UKHL 47, [2001] AC 293, [[1999] 1 All ER 297, [1999] 2 WLR 90, (1999) STC 37

Links:

House of Lords, Bailii

Statutes:

Finance Act 1986 102

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – In re Nichols, deceased CA 2-Jan-1975
The father, Lord Nichols, gave property to his sons who then leased it back to him. On the father’s death the revenue claimed duty.
Held: Goff LJ: ‘Having thus reviewed the authorities, we return to the question what was given, and we think . .
Cited – St Aubyn v Attorney General HL 12-Jul-1951
The donor exercised powers of appointment ‘to make some part of the settled property his own’, and it was ‘wholly irrelevant that by a contemporaneous or later transaction he surrenders his life interest in other parts of it’. The different parts of . .
Cited – In re Nichols, deceased ChD 1974
The father, Lord Nichols, in 1954, decided to make a gift of his family home and the surrounding estate to his son, aged 22. The father was to transfer the estate and the son would immediately lease the bulk of the property back to the father, the . .
Appeal from – Ingram and Palmer-Tomkinson (Executors of the Estate of Lady Jane Lindsay Morgan Ingram Deceased) v Commissioners of Inland Revenue CA 28-Jul-1997
The deceased had first conveyed property to her solicitor. Leases back were then created in her favour, and then the freeholds were conveyed at her direction to her children and grandchildren. They were potentially exempt transfers.
Held: . .
Cited – Munro v Commissioner for Stamp Duties PC 1933
In 1909, the deceased orally agreed with his six children that he and they would carry on the business of graziers on land owned by him as partners under a partnership at will. In 1913 the deceased transferred by way of gift the freehold interest in . .
At First Instance – Ingram and Another v Inland Revenue Commissioners ChD 23-May-1995
Lady Ingram had first conveyed properties to her solicitor who on the next day let the properties back to her, and on the day after conveyed the freehold of the properties to her family.
Held: The leases in favour of Lady Ingram, having been . .
Cited – Rye v Rye HL 1962
Two brothers were in partneship in unequal shares, but acquired a property for use by the business which they held in equal shares. They agreed a parol yearly tenancy between themselves as owners and as partners. After one died his son took over his . .
Cited – Greyv Ellison 1856
A policy of insurance was created in which one department of an insurance company purported to effect a contract with another department of the same company. Although different individuals were parties to the contract, they all contracted as agents . .
Cited – Attorney General v Worrall CA 1895
The donor gave his son the benefit of a debt of about andpound;24,000 which was owing to him, in return for which the son covenanted to pay the father an annuity of andpound;735 p.a. during his life.
Held: ‘It has been held that in cases of . .
Cited – Lang v Webb 1912
(High Court of Australia) In 1908 the deceased had transferred and conveyed a piece of land to each of her three sons; on the same date as, but subsequently to, the execution of the transfers and conveyances there had been executed by the deceased . .
Cited – Abbey National Building Society v Cann HL 29-Mar-1990
Registered land was bought with an advance from the plaintiff. The transfer and charge were registered one month later, but in the meantime, the buyer’s parents moved in. When the buyer defaulted, his mother resisted possession proceedings, saying . .
Cited – Kildrummy (Jersey) Ltd v Inland Revenue Commissioners IHCS 1990
It was not possible in Scottish law for a man to grant a lease to a nominee for himself: (Lord Hope) ‘I have, as I have said, no difficulty in the concept by which the title to property and the beneficial interest are separated, the title being held . .
Cited – In re Cochrane 1905
(Ireland) ‘as in these questions of revenue, matters of mere conveyancing form are immaterial; as we are to view the substance only of the transaction, and as ‘gift’ in the context means ‘beneficial gift,’ so, too, in the actual case before us, . .
Cited – W T Ramsay Ltd v Inland Revenue Commissioners HL 12-Mar-1981
The taxpayers used schemes to create allowable losses, and now appealed assessment to tax. The schemes involved a series of transactions none of which were a sham, but which had the effect of cancelling each other out.
Held: If the true nature . .

Cited by:

Applied – Commissioners of Inland Revenue v Eversden Eversden (As Executors of the Will of Greenstock Deceased) CA 15-May-2003
The executors challenged the assessment to Inheritance tax on the estate. The commissioners claimed that a gift of property into a trust included a sufficient reservation of benefit to disallow it as an exempt transfer.
Held: The scheme was . .
Cited – Inland Revenue Commissioners v Eversden and Another ChD 10-Jul-2002
A settlor had created a discretionary trust in favour of her husband. The Commissioners sought to apply the reservation of benefit provisions.
Held: The settlor’s retained entitlement as a discretionary beneficiary did constitute a reservation . .
Cited – HSBC Bank Plc v Dyche and Another ChD 18-Nov-2009
The parties disputed the claimed beneficial interest of the second defendant. The second defendant (C) said that it had been purchased for him by the first defendant (D) from C’s trustee in bankruptcy, and was thereafter held in trust for him on the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Inheritance Tax, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.158978

Post Office v Aquarius: CA 2 Jan 1985

The tenant’s covenants included an obligation ‘to keep in good and substantial repair . . the demised premises and every part thereof.’
Held: A repairing covenant does not require a defect in design to be made good. One cannot have an existing obligation to repair unless and until there is a disrepair.
Slade LJ said: ‘In these circumstances, there would in my opinion have been no grounds on which the judge could properly have held that the words of the repairing covenant quoted above imposed any present obligation on the tenants to do work to the premises. Counsel for the landlords suggested that any such decision would conflict with the principle established by Proudfoot v Hart (1890) 25 QBD 42, [1886-90] All ER Rep 782 that a tenant’s covenant to keep premises in good repair obliges the tenant, if the premises are not in good repair when the tenancy begins, to put them into that state. However, as he accepted in the course of argument, the relevant statements of the law in that case were only directed to the case where the condition of the premises has deteriorated from an earlier better condition. They were not directed, and in my judgment have no application, to a case such as the present where the structural defect complained of by the landlords has existed from the time when the premises were originally built. Though counsel for the landlords sought to draw a distinction in this context between structural defects due to errors in design and those due to faulty workmanship, I can see no grounds on principle or authority for drawing any such distinction.’
Gibson LJ said that: The reference in Quick’s case to deterioration or damage, such as the statement by Lawton LJ that ‘that which requires repair is in a condition worse than it was at some earlier time’, or that of Dillon LJ that a covenant to repair the structure or exterior ‘will only come into operation where there has been damage to the structure and exterior which requires to be made good’ are not to be taken as applicable to a case of this nature, and their Lordships in Quick’s case did not have such a case as this in mind. In particular, they were not dealing with a case like this where the defective part of the premises is such that it has and may again interfere with the ordinary use and occupation of the premises contemplated by the demise and, having been caused by defective work, was ‘worse’ than it was required to be if that part of the premises was to be regarded as in good repair.
For my part I am unable to accept the submission made by counsel for the appellant landlords. The facts of this case seem to me to be, as I have said, highly unusual. I found it at first to be a startling proposition that, when an almost new office building lets ground water into the basement so that the water is ankle deep for some years, that state of affairs is consistent with there being no condition of disrepair under a repairing covenant in standard form whether given by landlord or tenant. Nevertheless, as was pointed out in the course of argument, the landlord of such a building gives no implied warranty of fitness merely by reason of letting it; and neither a landlord nor a tenant, who enters into a covenant to repair in ordinary form, thereby undertakes to do work to improve the demised premises in any way. I see no escape from the conclusion that, if on the evidence the premises demised are and at all times have been in the same physical condition (so far as concerns the matters in issue) as they were when constructed, no want of repair has been proved for which the tenants could be liable under the covenant.

Judges:

Ralph Gibson LJ, Slade LJ

Citations:

[1987] 1 All ER 1055, (1985) 276 EG 923

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Quick v Taff Ely Borough Council CA 1986
Because of fungus, mould growth and dampness, the tenant’s council house was virtually unfit for human habitation in the winter when the condensation was at its worst. Section 32(1) of the 1961 Act implied in the tenancy a covenant by the council to . .

Cited by:

Cited – Jackson v J H Watson Property Investment Ltd QBD 7-Jan-2008
The tenant claimant held under a 125 year lease of the defendant. A fault in a light well led to water ingress and damage. The fault was in the landlord’s land but not the flat. The tenant alleged a nuisance by the landlords. The landlord replied . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.263272

Sumeghovo v McMahon: CA 24 Oct 2002

The appellant had been convicted of unlawfully evicting the respondent. He said that because he slept at the house, he shared the accommodation and so the tenancy was excluded from protection.
Held: Though he had other accommodation, the landlord did sleep at the house, with a sitting room. Where a person slept was a substantial element in deciding what was his main residence. It could not be disregarded, even if it might be temporary.

Judges:

Chadwick, Longmore LLJ

Citations:

Times 06-Nov-2002, Gazette 14-Nov-2002

Statutes:

Protection from Eviction Act 1997 3A(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.178032

Malekshad v Howard De Walden Estates Limited: CA 23 May 2001

The applicant sought the leasehold enfranchisement of two leasehold properties. They were contained in separate leases, but the property had been treated as one for some time. A part of one property extended under part of the other. The claim was resisted on the basis that there was more than one building as required by the Act. The judge was wrong to hold so, failing to allow that whether the property was more than one building was one only of the considerations. If it could reasonably described as one house, that was sufficient, and the fact that it might also reasonably be described as two houses did not defeat the claim. Interpreted in this way there was no incompatibility with the human rights act.

Judges:

Lord Justice Chadwick, Lord Justice Kennedy, Lord Justice Rix

Citations:

Gazette 14-Jun-2001, Times 09-Jun-2001, [2001] EWCA Civ 761, [2001] 3 WLR 824

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Leasehold Reform Act 1967 2(2), Human Rights Act 1998

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appealed to – Malekshad v Howard de Walden Estates Limited HL 5-Dec-2002
A house and an adjoining building had been first demised under one lease, then separated vertically. Two separate residential properties now existed.
Held: The vertical division meant that the two houses could not be enfranchised as one under . .
Cited – Malpas v St Ermin’s Property Ltd CA 1992
. .
Cited – Parsons v Trustees of Henry Smith’s Charity; Parson v Gage HL 1974
The House left open the exact meaning of the phrase ‘material’ in the section noting that whether a part is material is an issue which must be largely factual and one of common sense. The legislative purpose of the rule that divisions of the . .
Cited – Tandon v Trustees of Spurgeons Homes HL 1982
Tenants sought enfranchisement of their properties, but 75% of building consisted of a shop, and only 25% was living accomodation.
Held: The tenants were entitled to buy the freehold. The question whether a building is a house ‘reasonably so . .
Cited – Duke of Westminster and Others v Birrane CA 17-Nov-1994
A basement extending under the house next door means that the property with the basement is not a not a dwelling-house for leasehold enfranchisement purposes. The result would create difficulties with flying freeholds. ‘The primary purpose of . .
Cited – Lake v Bennett CA 1970
The building had been constructed in 1869. It was used as a house on three floors with a basement. The ground floor was later used as a shoe repairing shop and then as a betting shop with living accommodation still used for dwelling purposes in the . .
Cited – Cadogan v McGirk CA 25-Apr-1996
The court considered whether the 1993 Act should be construed as expropriatory legislation and therefore was to be read strictly.
Held: The Court rejected the submission that the relevant provisions must be strictly construed because the 1993 . .
Cited – Peck v Anicar Properties Ltd CA 15-Oct-1970
The tenant owned two leasehold properties, which had been joined into one. The tenant sought enfranchisement of only one of the properties to avoid being blocked by the rateable value limit, and by 2(2). . .
Cited – Wolf v Crutchley ChD 23-Oct-1970
The plaintiff came to own two adjoining houses, let on long leases at low rents. She sought to use the legislation to enfranchise one property. The landlord objected saying that the houses had been used as guesthouses, and that a door had been . .
Cited – In re W (An Infant) HL 1971
The court considered the reasonability of parental disagreement in applications for adoption: ‘Two reasonable parents can perfectly reasonably come to opposite conclusions on the same set of facts without forfeiting their title to be regarded as . .
Cited – Sharpe v Duke Street Securities 1987
The court considered an application for leasehold enfranchisement where a doorway had been constructed between the two ground-floor halls and the tenant of the two maisonettes occupied both together as his residence. Two residential units may . .
Cited – Relating to certain aspects of the laws on the use of languages in education in Belgium (Belgian Linguistics) No 2 ECHR 9-Feb-1967
The applicants, parents of more than 800 Francophone children, living in certain (mostly Dutch-speaking) parts of Belgium, complained that their children were denied access to an education in French.
Held: In establishing a system or regime to . .
Cited – J A Pye (Oxford) Ltd and Another v Caroline Graham and Another CA 6-Feb-2001
Where a tenant under a grazing license had stayed over after the end of the tenancy, and had been refused a renewed licence, and had continued to graze the land for over twelve years, the mere overstaying was not enough to evidence an animus . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Malekshad v Howard de Walden Estates Limited HL 5-Dec-2002
A house and an adjoining building had been first demised under one lease, then separated vertically. Two separate residential properties now existed.
Held: The vertical division meant that the two houses could not be enfranchised as one under . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant, Human Rights

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.147560

Sykes v Harry and Trustee of Estate of Harry, a Bankrupt: CA 1 Feb 2001

The tenant appealed dismissal of his claim for damages. He had suffered serious injury after inhaling carbon monoxide fumes from a defective gas fire. The fire had not been maintained and a fall of soot eventually prevented the escape of fumes.
Held: The appeal succeeded, and the defendant was 80% liable for the injury. Where a defect in premises led to a tenant’s injury, it was not necessary to show that the landlord had actual or constructive knowledge of the defect. If the landlord had failed to take the reasonable care which could have been expected of him to ensure the tenants personal safety, he could be liable. The purpose of the 1972 Act was to break away from the historic limitations placed by the common law upon the duty/liability of a landlord to persons injured as a result of defects in the condition of premises owned by him.
‘The judge was in error in equating the task of the claimant, as tenant, in establishing a breach of duty under s.4 of the 1972 Act, with his need under s.11 of the 1985 Act to demonstrate notice (actual or constructive) of the actual defect giving rise to the injury. The question the judge should have asked himself was whether, in the light of the findings of fact which he had made, the first defendant had, by his failure to service the gas fire regularly or at all, or otherwise to take steps to check or make appropriate enquiries of the tenant as to the servicing and/or state of the gas fire during the eight-year period before the claimant’s accident, failed in his duty to take such care as was reasonable in all the circumstances to see that the claimant was reasonably safe from injury. ‘

Judges:

Potter LJ, Hale LJ, Butler-Sloss P

Citations:

Times 27-Feb-2001, Gazette 05-Apr-2001, [2001] EWCA Civ 167, [2001] 3 WLR 62, [2001] NPC 26, [2001] L and TR 40, (2001) 33 HLR 80, (2001) 82 P and CR DG9, [2001] 17 EG 221, [2001] 1 EGLR 53, [2001] QB 1014, (2001) 82 P and CR 35

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Defective Premises Act 1972 4, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 11

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See Also – Sykes v Harry CA 14-Oct-1998
The plaintiff sought damages against the defendant after he was severely injured by inhaling carbon monoxide fumes whilst a tenant of the defendant. The defendant sought to strike out the claim, saying that the plaintiff had himself maintained the . .
Cited – O’Brien v Robinson HL 19-Feb-1973
The plaintiffs sought damages after being injured when the ceiling of their bedroom fell on them. They were tenants of the defendants.
Held: The 1961 Act implied a duty on L to keep in repair the structure. What was meant by ‘keep in repair.’ . .
Cited – British Telecommunications Plc v Sun Life Assurance Society Plc CA 3-Aug-1995
A landlord became in breach of his duty of repair under his covenant immediately the repairable defect occurred, not after a reasonable time had been given to make the repair. Nourse LJ summarised the earlier authorities: ‘It is now established by a . .
Cited – McGreal v Wake 1984
A landlord has the right to enter his premises for the purpose of carrying out the work required under his covenant for repair. . .
Cited – McCarrick v Liverpool Corporation HL 1947
Premises’ Defect – No Notice Liability on L
The tenant’s wife was injured falling from defective stone steps leading from the kitchen to the back kitchen of the house. Under section the 1936 Act, the judge found the house not to have been kept in the state required. No notice of want of . .
Cited – Cavalier v Pope HL 22-Jun-1906
The wife of the tenant of a house let unfurnished sought to recover from the landlord damages for personal injuries arising from the non-repair of the house, on the ground that the landlord had contracted with her husband to repair the house.

Cited by:

Cited – Clark and Another (Executors of Peggy Eileen Clark Deceased) v Revenue and Customs SCIT 27-Sep-2005
SCIT INHERITANCE TAX – business relief – company actively managing properties and carrying out its own building and maintenance work – whether its business consists wholly or mainly of making or holding . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant, Housing, Torts – Other

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.147417

Rosen v Trustees of Camden Charities: CA 30 Nov 2000

For the purposes of the Act, the original construction of a house could not to be considered as ‘any improvement’, which could be disregarded when calculating the amount payable by enfranchising tenants for the transfer of the freehold. The definition made it clear that premises could not exist apart from a house, and therefore a new house built on the site was not the improvement a house, but the provision of one. This interpretation accorded with the clear purpose of the amendments to the Act.

Citations:

Times 13-Dec-2000, Gazette 08-Feb-2001, [2000] EWCA Civ 298

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Leasehold Reform Act 1967

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.147331

Anthony Wroe (T/a Telepower) v Exmos Cover Limited: CA 8 Feb 2000

A licensee was in occupation of premises under an agreement which clearly denied the intention to create a tenancy. He refused to leave when requesting asserting that he was a tenant. Mistaking the law the landlord treated the occupier as a tenant and sought possession as such.
Held: The court refused jurisdiction, and the landlord was not to be estopped from returning to his assertion that the occupier was a mere licensee. There was no evidence that the occupier had relied upon any assertion that a tenancy existed to his detriment.

Citations:

Gazette 24-Feb-2000, Times 14-Mar-2000, [2000] EWCA Civ 31

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant, Equity

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.147064

The Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District v Palacegate Properties Ltd: CA 9 Feb 2000

A prospective landlord and tenant applied to have the proposed tenancy excluded from security of tenure. The draft appended to the application had blanks for the dates, and a break clause.
Held: The intention was to demonstrate the parties understanding of what they might be losing by way of security, and that the lease need only be substantially of the same form as the draft. In addition the break clause did not prevent the lease being for a term certain. The lease was excluded from security depite the break clause.

Citations:

Gazette 02-Mar-2000, Times 21-Mar-2000, [2000] EWCA Civ 33, [2000] 13 EG 187

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 38 (4)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Nicholls v Kinsey CA 3-Feb-1994
The parties agreed a tenancy for 12 months, and thereafter to continue from year to year determinable by the landlord on twelve months’ notice. An order had been obtained from the court to exclude the tenancy from protection under the 1954 Act.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.147066

Kathleen Saigol v Cranley Mansion Ltd and Ors: CA 23 Feb 2000

The respondent had had a successful life, and was tenant of a valuable apartment in the freehold block owned and managed by the appellant company. Substantial refurbishments had been badly handled by a trainee surveyor. There was a dispue with the builder who walked off the site. The work was wrongly certified as complete. Both partes had ended up insolvent. Part of the works was a chimney which later collapsed making the flat uninhabitable.
Held: The judge had found the claimant to have been truthful and the case was decided accordingly. Appeal denied.

Citations:

[2000] EWCA Civ 52

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.147085

Billson; Findlay and Dr Ker (Trustees of the Gunter Estate) v Tristrem: CA 4 Aug 1999

The tenant sought leave to appeal. Her landlord sought to recover a service charge. She said that under the lease the only element recoverable was in respect of the parts used by the flat in common with other flats in the building. As a basement with her own access she had no benefit from the sums paid to service other parts of the building.
Held: The test according to the words of the lease was as to what common parts she was entitled to use. The lease granted a right to the other parts but also restricted that right. The tenant had an arguable case, and the appeal should proceed.

Judges:

Chadwick LJ

Citations:

[1999] EWCA Civ 2065

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Billson v Tristem ChD 1999
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.146980

Croydon Unique Ltd v Wright and Crombie, and Crombie Intervenors: CA 29 Jul 1999

The beneficiary of a charging order had standing to intervene in proceedings leading to the forfeiture of a lease even several years after the lease had been forfeit. It was an interest derived from the lessee’s interest and a proper basis. The creditors not being told of the forfeiture in this case should not lose their charge of substantial value for tiny arrears.

Citations:

Gazette 02-Sep-1999, Times 24-Aug-1999, [1999] EWCA Civ 2010, [2001] Ch 318

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Charging Orders Act 1979

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Yorkshire Bank Finance Ltd v Mulhall and Another CA 24-Oct-2008
The bank had obtained a judgement against the defendant, and took a charging order. Nothing happened for more than twelve years, and the defendant now argued that the order and debt was discharged.
Held: The enforcement of the charging order . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.146925

North British Housing Association Ltd v Sheridan: CA 29 Jul 1999

The respondent appealed against an order for possession made on the grounds that he had been convicted of breach of an order under the 1997 Act in harassing his daughter who lived nearby the premises. The tenant argued that the agreement had incorporated a version of the Housing Act before its amendment to allow possession on such a ground.
Held: The agreement was to be interpreted as referring to the Act from time to time. The appeal failed.

Citations:

[1999] EWCA Civ 2021

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Protection of Harassment Act 1997, Housing Act 1988

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v London Borough of Brent, ex parte Blatt QBD 1991
The applicant was the respondent’s secure tenant. The respondent decided to change its tenancy agreement, by including a list of items of repair for which it would be responsible and a procedure by which it could vary the terms of the agreement. In . .
Cited – Harrison v Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council CA 1981
The court considered the relationship between statutory provisions and the terms of a tenancy agreement.
Held: Brandon LJ said: ‘In the various Housing and rent Acts the legislature did not seek to interfere with the common law principles on . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.146936

Parks v Esso Petroleum Company Limited: CA 23 Jul 1999

The claimant sought to add a claim under the regulations for compensation after termination of his agency for the defendants. The lower court had rejected his claim saying that the petrol products he sold were at a price fixed by Esso, and that since he did not negotiate the price he fell outside the regulations.
Held: The word ‘negotiate’ need not include the bargaining of price, but did require more than a collection of funds after a self-service sale: ‘he took no part in the customer’s choice and self-service.’

Judges:

Morritt, Thorpe, Popplewell LJJ

Citations:

[1999] EWCA Civ 1942

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Stergios Delimitis v Henninger Brau AG ECJ 28-Feb-1991
ECJ A beer supply agreement is prohibited by Article 85(1) of the EEC Treaty if two cumulative conditions are met. The first is that, having regard to the economic and legal context of the agreement at issue, it . .
Cited – Gibbs Mew Plc v Gemmell and Gibbs Mew Plc and Centric Pub Company Ltd v Gemmell CA 22-Jul-1998
The brewery sought possession of a public house, tied by type. The lessee claimed damages for breach of Art. 81 and a declaration that the Block Exemption was inapplicable to his lease. His appeal from the judge’s order in favour of the brewery was . .
Cited – Crehan v Courage Limited and Byrne and Inntrepreneur Beer Supply Co Ltd and Langton v Inntrepreneur Beer Supply Co Ltd CA 27-May-1999
The court considered the validity of beer ties affecting public houses. . .

Cited by:

Cited – Claramoda Ltd v Zoomphase Ltd (T/A Jenny Packham) ComC 13-Nov-2009
The former distribution agent sought to claim under the Regulations. The defendant said that the claim had not been notified as it should, within one year. The agency was for the sale of fashion items. Termination had been informal, stating that it . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Agency, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.146857

Cadogan Properties Limited v Mount Eden Land Limited: CA 29 Jun 1999

If the defendant is outside England, an order for substituted service in England could not be obtained unless permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction has first been obtained.

Citations:

[1999] EWCA Civ 1709, [2000] IL Pr 722

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Chellaram and Another v Chellaram and others (No 2) ChD 16-Apr-2002
One of the defendants had not been properly served by posting the proceedings to an address at which he stayed on his very occasional visits to London. The proceedings had not been issued for the purposes of service abroad, because at the time of . .
Cited – Fairmays (A Firm) v Palmer ChD 31-Jan-2006
The defendant appealed against a decision not to set aside a judgment obtained against him by default. Whilst he retained a property in England, he lived in Ethiopia. The claim was served at the address in England, but was redirected to another . .
Not preferred – Kamali v City and Country Properties Ltd CA 24-Jul-2006
The defendant tenant appealed against judgment saying that the proceedings in the County Court had not been correctly served. Though the documents had been sent to his address under the lease, he had been out of the jurisdiction when the claim was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant, Litigation Practice

Updated: 30 May 2022; Ref: scu.146624