LAW2023 Online: Commercial Property (Autumn)

Presented by Mark Shelton, Commercial Property Management Law Trainer

Tenants have powerful rights under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1988, to force landlords into granting consent to assignments and underletting despite perhaps having significant misgivings. Landlords can find themselves put under pressure to consent by the threat of a claim for damages, but even when apparently cornered, there may be opportunities to relieve the pressure so as to at least buy time for proper consideration and negotiation, and perhaps to succeed in resisting the proposed transaction altogether.

We will consider the implications of connected applications for alterations and change of use, as well as issues concerning waiver of any right to forfeit, as well as tactical grant of consent, and drafting options for improving the landlord's position.

At the end of the session you will have an understanding of:

• How alienation clauses can be structured favourably to the landlord.
• What considerations affect the question whether a landlord has made its decision within a reasonable time.
• How connected applications for change of use and alterations can be used creatively.
• How an application may be progressed without waiving a right to forfeit.
  

Presented by Mark Shelton, Commercial Property Management Law Trainer

While landlords retain a greater degree of control over consent to alterations than they have in relation to alienation, tenants are certainly not without rights. Landlords need to be aware of procedural pitfalls, and potentially serious consequences of being seen to have been unreasonable, even without the threat of a claim for damages. When consent is documented, surprisingly little attention is often given to the content of the humble licence to alter, and yet the consequences of how it (and the alterations clause of the lease) are drafted can be profound.

We will consider the key pitfalls of the consent process, and how both parties might usefully anticipate and provide for future consequences in drafting terms.

At the end of the session you will have an understanding of:

• The implications of key drafting points in alteration clauses.
• Deadlines and flashpoints in the process of progressing an application for consent.
• The risk of re-writing the lease by unreasonable conduct.
• The potential for accidental release of lease guarantors, and how to prevent it.
• Key matters for the drafting of the license to alter.

Presented by Richard Snape, Consultant at Davitt Jones Bould

Commercial leases continue to undergo major changes. The course aims to look at some of the changes and their implications for busy property professionals.

Topics covered include:

• Recent case law on service charges
• Recent case law on heads of terms
• Tenancies at will
• Break clauses after the Court of Appeal case of Turner v Thomas
• Higher-risk buildings and mixed-use development
• Recent developments on minimum energy efficiency standards
• High street rental auctions and the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill 2022-23

Presented by Richard Snape, Consultant at Davitt Jones Bould

This is a very topical area in the post-pandemic online world. It will look at break clauses and other termination methods.

Topics covered include:

• Conditions Precedent and Breaks
• The Time for Exercising the Break
• Right of Entry
• Tenant's Notice to Quit
• Surrender of Leases

Lectures are aimed at Property professionals and fee earners involved in both contentious and non-contentious property work.

Learning Outcome

To give an increased knowledge on the subject matter. To update on current issues, case law and statuary provisions and to be able to apply the knowledge gained in the better provision of a service to a client.