Two Types of Leases

A lease is an interest in land that permits the holder to enjoy the land for the duration of the lease. There are two types of leases: fixed term and periodic tenancies. The former may exist for any period of time provided the maximum duration is fixed while the latter is characterized by payment at a regular fixed interval such as weekly, and it continues to be automatically renewed until either the landlord or tenant chooses to terminate the lease. In contrast, a licence is a personal authorization to occupy or use the land owned by the freeholder. There are four types of licences namely: bare licences, licences coupled with an interest, contractual licences, and estoppel licences However, unlike a lease, a licence does not equate to an estate or interest in land, it is basically a legal right for the licensee to occupy the property without being considered as a trespasser. As the freehold owner of the block of flats, Henry’s success in his quest to obtain an order for possession for the three flats is largely dependent on the status of the occupants: whether they are licensees or leaseholders.

The first issue to be solved is to determine the type of entitlement the occupants possess to occupy their flat, such as lease or licence entitlement. Although the agreement includes a clause which identifies it as a license and not a tenancy agreement, this is of little significance because case law commencing from the precedent of Addiscombe Gardens Estates Ltd v Crabbe have portrayed that the law is more concerned with the type of relationship the true construction of the agreement creates between the parties, rather than the words used in the agreement to resemble the label the parties intend the relationship to be. So, the main i...

... middle of paper ...

...n & Quadrant Housing Trust’, (2005), CPL, 121.

[1875] LR CP 402 (CtCP).

[1992] 2 AC 288 (HL).

Judith Bray, Unlocking Land Law, (3rd edn, Hodder Education, 2010), 349.

[1978] 1 WLR 1014 (CA).

John-Paul Hinojosa, ‘On Property, Leases, Licences, Horses and Carts: Revisiting Bruton v London & Quadrant Housing Trust’, (2005), CPL, 114.

Roger Sexton, Barbara Bogusz, Land Law Text, Cases, and Materials, (3rd edition, Oxford University Press), 345-348.

Roger Sexton, Barbara Bogusz, Land Law Text, Cases, and Materials, (3rd edition, Oxford University Press), 298-299.

[1958] 1 QB 513 (CA).

[1985] 2 All ER 289 (HL).

Roger Sexton, Barbara Bogusz, Land Law Text, Cases, and Materials, (3rd edition, Oxford University Press), 345.

[1944] KB 368 (CA).

Joe Cursley, Mark Davys, Land Law, (7th edn, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), 156.

[1988] 3 WLR 1205 (HL).