The parties disputed whether a lease from S to LDC had been surrendered. S and QFS were negotiating for a renewal lease. No new lease having been agreed the parties agreed to a monthly sum to be paid pending agreement. L then let to a third party and sought possession saying that LDC had impliedly surrendered.
Held: The tenant’s appeal succeeded, and the order for possession was set aside. The landlords and QFS were in negotiation for the grant of a new lease, but no new lease was in fact granted. One did not get to the point of time immediately before the grant of a new lease at which it would or might be appropriate to imply that any earlier incompatible tenancy must have been surrendered. The argument that a new lease had been granted used its conclusion as a premise. It was not possible to require an assumption that the existing lease had been surrendered. For a surrender by operation of law there had to be shown conduct by the landlord or the tenant which was unequivocally inconsistent with the continuation of the lease.
Longmore, Smith LJJ, Morgan J
[2010] EWCA Civ 682, [2010] NPC 70
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
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 . .
Cited – Proudreed Ltd v Microgen Holdings Plc CA 17-Jul-1995
The handing back of keys without more does not of itself constitute a lease surrender. The passage in Tarjoumi as to implied surrender would have been more correct if there was added the phrase: ‘or such as to render it inequitable for the landlord . .
Cited – Artworld Financial Corporation v Safaryan and Others CA 27-Feb-2009
The parties disputed whether the landlord had accepted the surrender of a lease. The tenant had handed in the keys. The landlord claimed rent for the subsequent period. The court had found surrender by operation of law, the landlord taking several . .
Cited – Bellcourt Estates Ltd v Adesina CA 18-Feb-2005
The landlord sought to recover arrears of rent. The tenant said that she had surrendered the lease of the properties. The judge had held that she ceased to occupy the premises from November 2000, after which the landlord did not send a demand for . .
Cited by:
Cited – Mann Aviation Group (Engineering) Ltd v Longmint Aviation Ltd and Another ChD 19-Aug-2011
Administrators of the claimant company asserted that the company had held informal leases of two hangars owned by the defendant, and also complained of their transfer at an undervalue. The first defendant said that the occupations were under license . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Landlord and Tenant
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.416786
