Category: Topical Issues
Recoverability of administration charges when serving a section 146 notice
A notice under section 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925 (“section 146 notice”) must be served on the tenant before the landlord can forfeit the lease for breach of covenant. However, no section 146 notice is required for non-payment of rent. In a recent case before the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (“LVT”), 19-21 Rendezvous [...]
Read moreTenant failed to give vacant possession in accordance with terms of break clause
The case of NYK Logistics (UK) Ltd v Ibrend Estates BV [2011] EWCA Civ 683 highlights that tenants must be extremely cautious when trying to comply with any conditions of a break clause and landlords also need to be careful not to waive any rights. In this case the tenant had exercised its option to [...]
Read moreMeaning of “Vendor” contained in restrictive covenant
The title to a property may contain restrictive covenants which prohibit the property owner from doing something. An example of a restrictive covenant may be that no works to the property may be carried out without the written consent of the previous owners. Churchill v Temple and others [2010] EWHC 3369 (Ch) concerned a property [...]
Read moreAcceptance of tenant break notices
Either party to a lease (and their agents) must be careful when dealing with notices to terminate. MW Trustees Ltd and others v Telular Corporation [2011]EWHC 104 demonstrates some of the pitfalls. In this case, the tenant was required to serve six months’ written notice on the landlord by hand or special delivery. In fact, [...]
Read moreDiscrepancies in listing particulars do not defeat listed status
The Court of Appeal has held that significant errors in the name and address of a listed building do not render the listed status of that building invalid. Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation) Act 1990 (“PLBCA 1990”) regulates the listing of buildings for architectural or historic reasons. Once [...]
Read moreWho is the Competent Landlord for the purposes of the 1954 Act?
If you have recently purchased a property which is subject to leases that are protected by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (the “Act”) and you want to serve notice under the leases to oppose the grant of a new tenancy, you must ensure that you are the “competent landlord” under the Act. The “competent [...]
Read moreEnforceability of contracts for the transfer of land
The recent case of Herbert v Doyle and another [2010] EWCA Civ 1095 highlights the importance of properly documenting contracts to sell or transfer land. The parties in this case had orally agreed to transfer a number of car parking spaces between themselves. However, under section 2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act [...]
Read moreProperty implications of the Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 (the “Act”) brings existing legislation on discrimination (including the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) into one single statute. Save for certain exceptions, the provisions of the Act came into force on 1 October 2010. The Act aims to protect people with certain characteristics (for example, people with disabilities, [...]
Read moreSimplifying the sale of land by charities
The Government has recently responded to the Office of the Third Sector’s consultation on proposals to extend the definition of “qualified surveyor” in section 36(4) of the Charities Act 1993 to make it easier for charities to dispose of land. The consultation proposed extending the section 36 definition to include suitably experienced Fellows of the [...]
Read moreLease lengths at record low
The latest BPF/IPD Annual Lease Review has revealed that the average length of leases fell to a low of 6 years in the year 2009/2010 (on an unweighted basis) or 8.6 years if weighted by rent passing. Each of these figures ignores any breaks clauses in the 91,000 leases analysed. However, the Review showed that [...]
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