Estates and Leases Flashcards
real property
all property rights relating to land, except for leases
personal property
rights in all types of property except land
estate in land
the right which a person has to control and use the land
types of estates
- freehold
- leasehold
- commonhold
reversionary estate
it’s when at the end of the lease the estate reverts to the freeholder who owns the reversion
interest in land
a right which a person has over another’s land
types of legal interests in land
- easement
- rentcharge
- mortgage
unconscionability
a doctrine in contract describing terms that are so extremely unjust, or overwhelmingly one-sided in favour of the party with the superior bargaining power, that they are contrary to good conscience
trust
a relationship created at the direction of an individual in which one or more persons hold the individual’s property subject to certain duties to use and protect it for the benefit of others
obligations of a trustee
obligations of conscience - strict liability
deed
any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right or property, and that is signed, attested, delivered and sometimes sealed
term of years absolute
any period of a fixed and certain duration
proprietary rights
rights capable of binding third parties
personal rights
rights incapable of binding third parties
lease
an estate in the land, which, therefore, gives a proprietary interest in the land
characteristics of a lease
- exclusive possession
- for a fixed or periodic term
- at a rent (questionable)
- correct formalities
retaliatory eviction
where a tenant makes a legitimate complaint to their landlord about the condition of their property and their landlord serves them with an eviction notice
licence
personal agreement between the licensor and licensee to enter/occupy licencor’s property, the test to distinguish is the one of exclusive possession
Walsh v Lonsdale 1882
f: a contract for a lease
j: as good as a lease
p: equity intervenes
Street v Mountford 1985
f: agreement says a licence so no lease protection, L tried to evict T
j: intention irrelevant, lease mostly about exclusive possession
p: test - whether the agreement conferred exclusive possession
Ashburn Anstalt v Arnold 1989
f: no rent paid because agreement to redevelop a ship
j: no rent does not prevent a tenancy
p: lease without rent
Skipton Bldg Soc v Clayton 1993
f: the FH transferred in order to confer a licence for life
j: the fact there was no rent did not prevent it from being a lease
p: lease without rent
Lace v Chantler 1944
f: a tenancy for the duration of the war
j: not a valid lease as period uncertain
p: uncertain tenancy duration prevents a lease
Prudential Assurance v Ldn Residuary Body 1992
f: O sent his land to the council who rented it back to him until widening the highway, this never happened but the next owner wanted to terminate the lease
j: no certain duration so no valid lease, yet, rent and possession which made it an informal lease that could be terminated on giving 6mths notice
p: uncertain tenancy duration, but other factors taken into account
Aslan v Murphy no 1 1990
f: agreement for a room that was supposed to be vacated between 10.30 and noon each day, licensor could introduce an additional licensee and retained the keys
j: it was a lease as the provisions were ‘clearly pretences’, plus if the key is retained for repairs and security, it does not negate exclusive possession
Westminster CC v Clarke 1992
f: a hostel for homeless single men, curfew, social rooms, allotted rooms
j: residents were only licensees with lodger rights
p: circumstances making a tenancy a licence rather than a lease
Antoniades v Villiers 1990
f: two occupants (living as H and W) who entered separate but identical agreements, some exclusion clauses of exclusive possession
j: two agreements interdependent because neither would’ve been signed w/o the other so it was in reality single transaction, exclusion clause should be ignored
p: exclusive possession in reality
A.G. Securities v Vaughan 1990
f: four occupants sharing a four-bedroomed flat under four different agreements, each paying their own rent
j: no four unities, four separate licences
p: importance of unities
Mikeover v Brady 1989
f: two tenants with identical licence agreements, one of them moved out, the other wanted to pay the whole rent but the landlord said no, he fell into arrears anyway, landlord wanted to evict
j: only licences as separate obligation to pay, apparently because landlord’s intention to have 2 separate licences proven genuine
p: lease/licence distinction not that clear
Bruton v Ldn & Quadrant Housing Trust 2000
f: when a building was redeveloped, London granted a licence to a housing trust to provide housing for the homeless, one of them wanted some repairs so he claimed that because of exclusive possession he had a lease
j: he indeed had a lease even though the trust had no estate interest, what mattered was the nature of the agreement and not the character of the ‘landlord’
p: created so-called Bruton lease, quite controversial
Hammersmith v Monk 1992
f: two tenants were granted a joint secure tenancy, one of them left and the second one terminated the tenancy, notice given without the first’s knowledge or consent
j: tenancy terminated
p: a rule that one joint tenant can terminate the tenancy
Sims v Dacoram 2013
f: similar to Monk but alleged breach of Art 8
j: confirmed Monk and rejected Art 8 argument
p: confirmed Monk
Heslop v Burns 1974
f: L let a pair of people live in his cottage bc they were poor, then became the godfather of their daughter, after his death Ts wanted confirmation that it was a lease
j: no, it wasn’t, as no intention
p: intention in lease/licence distinction
lease/licence distinction
lease gives a proprietary right in land
licence gives a personal right in land
