Leases & Licenses

Question 1

Define leases

Answer 1

• Something of property interest, meaning it relates to something independent of a specific person, i.e some land.
• An example would be transferring ownership to another person.

Question 2

Define licenses

Answer 2

• Something of personal rights, meaning it gives A the right to fulfill their duty owed to B, e.g selling them a lawnmower / growing vegetables on an allotment.
• If X damages that lawnmower, preventing A from fulfilling that duty, B can claim that economic loss from X.
• ‘Permission, makes an action lawful, without it it’d be unlawful’.

Question 3

Identify 4 features of a lease

Answer 3

1. A grant of land
2. For a term
3. At a rent (although this may no longer be required)
4. With exclusive possession of the land

Question 4

Identify 4 features of a license

Answer 4

1. May be contractual
2. Can be withdrawn
3. Does not bind 3rd parties
4. Poses no threat to those who might acquire an interest in the land

Question 5

Benefits of using leases

Answer 5

• Can bind third parties, e.g Hill v Tupper [1863]

Question 6

Benefits of using licenses

Answer 6

• Allows a person to exclusively occupy the land.
• Encourages efficient use of land
• Social reasons

Question 7

Identify the facts, legal issues & outcome of Porter v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [1999] All ER (D) 1129 (CA)

Answer 7

• Ms Porter had a dispute with the London Electricity Board (LEB) over the supply of electricity to her new flat.
• She claimed the electrician never arrived to connect her supply; the LEB asserted that she hadn’t answered her door when their electrician did call.
• Porter would now have to pay a further fee and wait three days before the connection would be made.
• Porter demanded an immediate supply of electricity to her flat at no extra charge and made it clear that she would remain in the LEB showroom, with her children, until this demand was met.
• The two parties reached something of an impasse, whereupon the police were called.
  After unsuccessfully endeavoring to persuade her to leave of her own volition, the police resorted to using force, whereupon she engaged in obdurate, passive resistance.
• Either before or after being carried out of the showroom, Porter was arrested for a breach of the peace and charged with assault on a police officer.
• However, the Crown Prosecution Service did not ultimately pursue the case.
• Porter then sued the police for damages, for assault, battery, wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.
• Ms Porter’s claim for damages was dismissed by the Central London County Court.
• She appealed to the Court of Appeal where she was also unsuccessful.
• The Court of Appeal held that the plaintiff became a trespasser when she refused to leave at the LEB employees’ request.
  The police were thus entitled to use reasonable force to remove her, when asked to do so.
• Moreover, her resistance occasioned a breach of the peace for which the police were entitled to arrest her.
• The court considered itself bound by CIN Properties Ltd v Rawlins [1995] EGLR 130 (CA), which affirmed the right of private landowners to exclude at will.
• On the facts, it appeared that Ms Porter was acting as a reasonable citizen-consumer when she staged her non-disruptive sit-in protest.
• Consequently, the police conduct in using force to remove her was unlawful.

Question 8

Outline the feminist judgement of the case

Answer 8

It’s an imagined appeal to the House of Lords.

Question 9

Outline the case that exemplifies leases

Answer 9

• The respondent, Street, granted a license to the appellant, Montford, to occupy two rooms at a weekly rent subject to 14 days’ notice of termination.
• The written agreement was titled a ‘license agreement’ and contained a declaration that it did not create a tenancy.
  The respondent sought a court declaration that Mountford only had a license.
• Mountford appealed to the House of Lords.
• The respondent argued that the parties had only intended to create a license, not a lease, and the fact that the agreement was labelled a ‘license’ meant that it should be treated as such if the other terms of the agreement were not conclusive.
• The appellant argued that what was important were the rights created, not simply the form of the agreement.
• The appeal was allowed - a lease must grant exclusive possession of the property for a fixed or periodic term at a rent.
• It is the nature of the rights created which are important.
• The issue revolves around whether exclusive possession creates a tenancy.

Question 10

Outline the case that exemplifies a license

Answer 10

• The defendant was a voluntary housing trust that focused on homelessness.
• The local authority had granted the trust a license to use short-life properties as temporary accommodation for homeless people who were on the waiting list for a home, before these properties were later developed.
• B signed an agreement to use one of the properties on a weekly license.
• The contract stated that B would have to vacate the premises upon receipt of reasonable notice.
• B later brought proceedings that the trust was in breach of implied terms to keep the premises in good working order.
• The key issue was whether B would be considered as a tenant or licensee under the circumstances. The trial judge found that B was a licensee and B’s appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
  B appealed again.
• The court found that as the trust had granted B exclusive possession of the property; this had created a tenancy agreement.
• Exemplifies licenses (permission, personal interest which constitutes a duty, makes an action lawful, without it it’d be unlawful)

Question 11

Outline exceptional cases to the rule of leases & licenses

Answer 11

1. Westminster City Council v Clarke [1992]
2. Bruton v London Quadrant Housing [1999]

Question 12

Outline the main ideas of Gray & Gray

Answer 12

• Fragility of concept of property
• Relationality of property
• Power and property
  . The proper order of things
  . Relative both in practice and as an idea
• Degrees of property - a slippery concept
  . Property as fact
  . Property as right
  . Property as responsibility

Question 13

Outline the 4 ‘unity’ requirements for property

Answer 13

Unity of possession - each joint tenant must be entitled to possession of every part of the co - owned land.
Unity of interest - each joint tenant’s proprietary interest in the estate must be the same in extent, nature & duration.
Unity of title - each joint tenant must derive their title to the estate from the same act.
Unity of time - the interest of each tenant must vest at the same time.

Question 14

Outline the first three requirements needed to prove joint tenancy.

Answer 14

1. Do agreements require signatories to become joint tenants with others?
2. What happens if one of tenants dies… if answer is landlord would move someone else in and other tenants can’t prevent this then they - CANNOT have JOINT TENANCY
3. Are the four unities present?