LAW2023 Online: Commercial Property (Spring)

Presented by Mark Shelton – Commercial Property Management Law Trainer

Contracting out of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 may be a commonplace of commercial property practice, but it can be a crucial part of a deal, and getting it wrong can be a very costly mistake. It can mean a lost development opportunity, or a tenant who is in a ransom position, and can demand a large premium for relocating. The procedure is supposed to be a robust and simple one, which can be operated quickly, and even without the assistance of lawyers. Often it is, but even before it came into force a number of potential problems had been identified. Caselaw has clarified some of the issues, but others remain, and this session identifies the six important ones, and discusses practical approaches to them.

Presented by Mark Shelton – Commercial Property Management Law Trainer

How to document short-term, low-value lettings quickly and cheaply has always been a problem, and it comes into sharper focus when tenants and rent are hard to come by, as has been the case over recent years. The temptation is to allow an occupier into occupation and collect the rent, whether or not there is satisfactory documentation in place. Equally, where a tenancy comes to an end but the tenant wishes to stay on, or perhaps where a potential assignee goes into occupation before consent is given, the landlord may be prepared simply to accept the situation. This is understandable in the short-term, but may lead to problems later on, as regards identifying what sums may be recoverable from the occupier, and ultimately the ability to recover possession.

This session will consider the available options in the light of guidance from recent caselaw on the characteristics of licences to occupy and tenancies at will. We will also consider strategies to untangle the knot when problems have arisen.

Presented by Richard Snape

Overage clauses and uplift provisions are becoming more and more common and present major drafting issues and pitfalls for the practitioner. The course aims to look at some of the pitfalls and their solutions.

Topics covered include:

• Enforceability of overage clauses against third parties
  
  
• Overage clauses and restrictive covenants
  
  
• Some cases on interpretation
  
  
• Overage and SDLT and LTT
• Overage and auctions in the light of SPS v Mahil

Presented by Richard Snape

This course takes another look at the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, this time focusing on the renewal process and some of the pitfalls.

Topics covered include:

• Grounds of opposition with specific to reference to (f) and (g)
  
  
• Determining renewal terms, in particular in relation to duration of the new lease
  
  
• Other renewal terms, in particular in relation to alienation, repair and service charge
  
  
• Interim rents
  
  
• Compensation for disturbance