The landlord lived next door to the premises and frequently visited the premises. The tenant failed to paint the ceiling and did no painting in the last year of the term. The landlord objected to the exercise of an option in the lease. The tenant said that the breaches had been waived by the landlord’s failure to object to the breaches.
Held: A covenant to renew so long as lessee’s obligations were duly performed is strictly interpreted against the lessee. Such an option required both notice and observance of the covenants in the lease if the tenant was to be able to exercise it. This applied even though the breaches might be trivial.
Dankwerts LJ said: ‘An option of this character [to extend the terms of a lease] is a privilege – a right which has always been treated by the law as requiring compliance with the terms and conditions upon which the option is to be exercised.’
Dankwerts LJ
[1966] 3 All ER 210, [1966] 1 WLR 1485
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Haugland Tankers As v RMK Marine Gemi Yapim Sanayii Ve Deniz Tasimaciligi Isletmesi As ComC 9-Mar-2005
An option agreement was granted for the sale of a ship hull. The option was excercised but the defendant claimed the commitment fee required was not paid.
Held: The exercise of an option had to be in the precise terms set out in the contract. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Landlord and Tenant
Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.223447