10. Lease Termination and Security of Tenure under a Business Lease Flashcards
Four ways leases can be terminated at common law
- Time is up
- Notice to quit
- surrender
- Merger
When will a fixed-term lease terminate according to the common law rules
When the contractual term ends (effluxion of time)
When does a periodic tenancy end?
when appropriate period’s notice is given by the landlord to the tenant
- generally, one term (except yearly tenancy, which is 6 months) with notice expiring at the end of the period
Requirements for surrender of a commercial lease to be legal?
To be legal, surrender must be by deed (LPA 1925, s 52)
Methods of termination of a lease: Merger
- tenant acquires landlord’s estate in land (or third party acquires lease and reversion)
- lease automatically merged with reversion and is extinguished
When will ‘merger’ not be effective / not merge the reversion with the lease and extinguish?
If the tenant/third party expressly preserves the lease in the documentation
If a tenancy is ‘protected’ by the 1954 act, do the normal common law rules for termination still apply?
Not necessarily (but they can - tenant’s choice)
What types of tenancies are COVERED by the 1954 act
Tenancies of properties occupied by tenant for business purposes
To satisfy the definition of ‘business’ in the 1954 act: what must be evidenced?
That the purpose is a trade, profession or employment and in the case of a body of persons - any activity carried on by them (activity itself need not be commercial)
Business Tenancies NOT protected by the 1954 act:
- tenancies at will
- fixed-term tenancies not exceeding 6 months (if tenant has not already been in occupation for more than 12 months)
- agricultural holdings
- farm business tenancies
- mining leases
- fixed-term tenancies ‘contracted out’ of the 1954 act
