Occupational Licensee of Property Law

Requirement

Question 1

Advise the following as to the legal status of the arrangements by which they occupy their premises:
a) Angela is occupying a flat owned by her friend Bill until her own house (which was recently flooded) is again habitable
b) Cindy and Debbie, two students, have recently signed separate but identical “licence agreements” by virtue of which they share a two-bedroom flat.
c) George occupies a bed-sit in return for a weekly payment of £80. The owner of the bed-sit undertakes to provide breakfast, and to clean the room and provide fresh linen every week. The owner has a key to the bed-sit.
d) Henry is given the exclusive use of a luxurious central London apartment at £1,000 per annum until his new e-commerce company becomes listed on the London Stock Exchange. The apartment is owned by his multimillionaire father who wants to help Henry in developing his business.
e) Irene occupies a flat and pays £500 per month for it. She has no written contract or document of any kind.
f) Lesley agreed a six-year lease with the owner of a house. After the payment of £36,000 as a fine, she was allowed into occupation. However, so far she has not had any written contract or document of any kind.

Answer:

a) Angela's occupation of her friend’s house is for a limited period. It can be said that she has a status of a periodic tenancy. The landlord allows the tenant to occupy the premises without any documentation and ends when either party gives notice to the other.
b) Cindy and Debbie occupy the house under the lease. It gives them right to use the premises as if they were the owners for a specific period and it must be in writing.
c) George's occupation status is excluded tenancy or license.
d) Henry occupies it as an occupational Licensee. It is a personal arrangement to occupy in a particular way.
e) Irene is under the occupation of premises in the absence of any document is under a tenancy at will, It is considered the unusual type of lease, is personal and can be brought to an end anytime.
f) Lesly is occupied under the lease, it is necessary that the lease is in writing, and a deed of a lease be made (Roches LLP, 2014).

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Question 2

In June 2012, Neil took out a lease of a country house near Lancaster owned by Oliver. The lease was fixed for five years, with a fine of £60,000 paid to Oliver upfront. Due to the age and structure of the property, the house is freezing most of the time between September and March, a problem which is only alleviated by excessive amount of heating. However, the heating system sometimes generates considerable unexplained noises and Neil is often woken from his sleep. He repeatedly complained to Oliver about not having ‘quiet enjoyment’ of the property. And things got worse in November 2012 when the central heating system stopped working. Neil asked Oliver to have it repaired. Oliver, however, refused on the grounds that the lease specifically stated “it shall be the responsibility of the lessee to maintain any system of water or space heating within the premise”. Being unable to live in the property, Neil moved to a flat. He then sub-let the house to Philip until 31 March 2013, without notifying Oliver. The lease contained the standard prohibition against assignment or sub-letting without prior written consent of the landlord.
Philip then carried out the trade of certain breed of dangerous dogs within the property. He gained quite a “reputation” shortly due to an incident involving the injury of a child. He was arrested in February 2013, and later convicted for related offences. The news made to the local press. However, neither Neil nor Oliver was aware of the behaviour of Philip at first. The lease contained the standard provision that “the property shall not be used for any business or trade or any illegal or immoral purposes”. Neil moved back into the property in April 2013. Oliver, however, has learnt about the incidents and is seeking to forfeit the lease.

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Advise Neil.

Answer 

Advice to Neil:
The right to forfeit a lease is granted to a landlord;  The landlord can terminate the lease if a tenant does some acts of default. The landlord cannot forfeit lease of residential premises on any other grounds except for breach of covenant and Section 146 Notice is served on the tenant, giving the tenant reasonable time to remedy the breach.
The landlord cannot proceed with forfeiture unless the breach of covenant is admitted by a tenant, and in the case of inadmissibility by the tenant, it should be declared by the Court that tenant has committed a breach of covenant.
Oliver could forfeit the lease only if there was a breach of a covenant that includes the rent being not paid or service charges are unpaid, and the forfeiture clause is there in the lease.
Neil had breached the covenant of lease by sub-letting the house to Philip without obtaining consent from Oliver. The lease contained a clause of the prohibition against sub-letting or assignment without first obtaining the consent of the landlord. 
Neil however, moved back to the house, so the breach of covenant was remedied.
Oliver, therefore, cannot forfeit the lease as Neil was back and had started residing in the house.
Section 2 of the Protection from Eviction  Act  1977 provides that it is unlawful to forfeit a lease, if a person is residing in the house lawfully and in case landlord wishes to forfeit, it has to be done through the Court (Eunhee Lee, 2011).
Section 1 of Protection of Eviction Act 1977 has made provision that a tenant cannot be deprived of his right to reside in his premises under a long lease, and if deprived, it is a criminal offense. If a person is guilty of committing  an offense, he will be liable to fine and imprisonment.
Neil can claim damages for losses if Oliver forfeit the lease wrongfully. Thus, Neil may defend himself by claiming that Oliver is wrongfully seeking to forfeit lease, as he (Neil) has been lawfully residing in the house (James, 2013).

References

  • Eunhee Lee, (2011). Protection from Eviction. Democratic Legal Studies, null(46), pp.57-86.

  • James, L. (2013). [online] Google.co.in. Available at: https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.dwf.law/news-events/legal-updates/2013/08/exercising-a-right-to-forfeit/&ved=0ahUKEwjPuJ7Tw__KAhUCTI4KHf2pA3IQFggaMAA&usg=AFQjCNHMY8r4tS62Uc4M-rIg7yTd-2sE8A [Accessed 18 Feb. 2016].

  • Roches LLP, B. (2014). Short term occupation: lease, licence or tenancy at will? | Lexology. [online] Lexology.com. Available at: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6ff57f67-083a-4b68-9d8c-59ac835fa712 [Accessed 18 Feb. 2016].

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