Lecture 3 – Leases
Topic general: What is the difference between a lease and a license?
Definition of a lease:
Contract between one party, the landlord/ or lessor to grant another person, the
tenant/ the lessee, the right of (1) exclusive possession of a (2) clearly defined plot
of land for (3) a certain period.
Land law will only create land where there is certainty of the interest. Lease generally
involves the payment of money. Lease is both a contract and a property right.
A leasehold tenancy is a curious mix. One part a personal promise, enforceable
against the parties, and the other part an estate in land, enforceable against the
world; the tension is inherent in the medieval term for it, a ‘chattel real’. - M.
Wonnacott, The History of the Law of Landlord and Tenant in England and Wales
(2012), pp 1-2.
Second reason for leases: because they are one of the two estates in land, capable of
existing as a legal estate. Section 205 of LPA, definition section, contains the definition
of term of years absolute. See handout. You can have a lease for an hour, for a day etc.
I) HISTORY OF LEASES
Leases derive from feudalism. Living embodiment of the feudal tenure. The distinction
between a lease and a license is wafer thin. Very difficult to distinguish. So, social
context is key. Fundamental underpinning of relationship between landlord and tenant
is that there is a basic inequality of bargaining power. Tenants are always in an unequal
position. Historically, also the case that land lords have tended to exploit that inequality.
During 20th, we went to and fro. First statutory intervention comes in 1915, partly
because of rent strike. Parliament responded by controlling rents, set at a particular
level. Rises could only be made in accordance with central government. ‘Old fashioned
rent control’.
This was combined with security of tenure between 1915 and 1989, landlord can only
evict you on certain grounds. On death, family can keep tenancy. Only applied to
tenancies, and not all, but most. In 1988, Housing Act 88 brought in deregulation of the
private rented sector. Meant that from then rents were at market rate.
So distinction between lease and license, the more limited protection only applies to
leases, not to licenses. Still more protection than a license though. License can be
Topic general: What is the difference between a lease and a license?
Definition of a lease:
Contract between one party, the landlord/ or lessor to grant another person, the
tenant/ the lessee, the right of (1) exclusive possession of a (2) clearly defined plot
of land for (3) a certain period.
Land law will only create land where there is certainty of the interest. Lease generally
involves the payment of money. Lease is both a contract and a property right.
A leasehold tenancy is a curious mix. One part a personal promise, enforceable
against the parties, and the other part an estate in land, enforceable against the
world; the tension is inherent in the medieval term for it, a ‘chattel real’. - M.
Wonnacott, The History of the Law of Landlord and Tenant in England and Wales
(2012), pp 1-2.
Second reason for leases: because they are one of the two estates in land, capable of
existing as a legal estate. Section 205 of LPA, definition section, contains the definition
of term of years absolute. See handout. You can have a lease for an hour, for a day etc.
I) HISTORY OF LEASES
Leases derive from feudalism. Living embodiment of the feudal tenure. The distinction
between a lease and a license is wafer thin. Very difficult to distinguish. So, social
context is key. Fundamental underpinning of relationship between landlord and tenant
is that there is a basic inequality of bargaining power. Tenants are always in an unequal
position. Historically, also the case that land lords have tended to exploit that inequality.
During 20th, we went to and fro. First statutory intervention comes in 1915, partly
because of rent strike. Parliament responded by controlling rents, set at a particular
level. Rises could only be made in accordance with central government. ‘Old fashioned
rent control’.
This was combined with security of tenure between 1915 and 1989, landlord can only
evict you on certain grounds. On death, family can keep tenancy. Only applied to
tenancies, and not all, but most. In 1988, Housing Act 88 brought in deregulation of the
private rented sector. Meant that from then rents were at market rate.
So distinction between lease and license, the more limited protection only applies to
leases, not to licenses. Still more protection than a license though. License can be
