Estates and Leases

Question 1

real property

Answer 1

all property rights relating to land, except for leases

Question 2

personal property

Answer 2

rights in all types of property except land

Question 3

estate in land

Answer 3

the right which a person has to control and use the land

Question 4

types of estates

Answer 4

• freehold
• leasehold
• commonhold

Question 5

reversionary estate

Answer 5

it’s when at the end of the lease the estate reverts to the freeholder who owns the reversion

Question 6

interest in land

Answer 6

a right which a person has over another’s land

Question 7

types of legal interests in land

Answer 7

• easement
• rentcharge
• mortgage

Question 8

unconscionability

Answer 8

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

Question 9

trust

Answer 9

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

Question 10

obligations of a trustee

Answer 10

obligations of conscience - strict liability

Question 11

deed

Answer 11

any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right or property, and that is signed, attested, delivered and sometimes sealed

Question 12

term of years absolute

Answer 12

any period of a fixed and certain duration

Question 13

proprietary rights

Answer 13

rights capable of binding third parties

Question 14

personal rights

Answer 14

rights incapable of binding third parties

Question 15

lease

Answer 15

an estate in the land, which, therefore, gives a proprietary interest in the land

Question 16

characteristics of a lease

Answer 16

• exclusive possession
• for a fixed or periodic term
• at a rent (questionable)
• correct formalities

Question 17

retaliatory eviction

Answer 17

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

Question 18

licence

Answer 18

personal agreement between the licensor and licensee to enter/occupy licencor’s property, the test to distinguish is the one of exclusive possession

Question 19

Walsh v Lonsdale 1882

Answer 19

f: a contract for a lease
j: as good as a lease
p: equity intervenes

Question 20

Street v Mountford 1985

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Ashburn Anstalt v Arnold 1989

Answer 21

f: no rent paid because agreement to redevelop a ship
j: no rent does not prevent a tenancy
p: lease without rent

Question 22

Skipton Bldg Soc v Clayton 1993

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Lace v Chantler 1944

Answer 23

f: a tenancy for the duration of the war
j: not a valid lease as period uncertain
p: uncertain tenancy duration prevents a lease

Question 24

Prudential Assurance v Ldn Residuary Body 1992

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Aslan v Murphy no 1 1990

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Westminster CC v Clarke 1992

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Antoniades v Villiers 1990

Answer 27

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

Question 28

A.G. Securities v Vaughan 1990

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Mikeover v Brady 1989

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Bruton v Ldn & Quadrant Housing Trust 2000

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Hammersmith v Monk 1992

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Sims v Dacoram 2013

Answer 32

f: similar to Monk but alleged breach of Art 8
j: confirmed Monk and rejected Art 8 argument
p: confirmed Monk

Question 33

Heslop v Burns 1974

Answer 33

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

Question 34

lease/licence distinction

Answer 34

lease gives a proprietary right in land

licence gives a personal right in land