| Financial News |  | |
| Home |
|---|
| About Us |
| Financial News Latest Articles |
|---|
| Annuities |
| Asset Allocation |
| Corporate |
| Current Issues |
| Economic Issues |
| Independent Education |
| ISAs |
| Investments |
| Market Overview |
| Property |
| Protection |
| Retirement |
| Tax |
| Trusts |
| With Profits |
| ---------------------------- |
| Financial News Archive |
| Our Details |
|---|
| contact Us |
|
Landlords 
The Court of Appeal decision in the case of Pointon York Group Plc and Poulton (2006) acts as a reminder of what constitutes ‘occupation’ and ‘premises’ for the purposes of renewal under the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1954 (the 1954 Act).
It is possible to have security of tenure under the 1954 Act and hence have renewal rights by virtue of occupation of car parking spaces for the purposes of, or in connection, with a business, even though the lease reserves the right for the Landlord to move the tenant to other car parking spaces or limit the use of the car parking spaces to specified hours. It is common in leases of, for example, multi-let offices, for a landlord to grant a right to the tenant to use car parking spaces in connection with its use of the let premises subject to such provisions. Whether there is occupation is a matter of fact and degree. It is sufficient to occupy premises for the purposes of the 1954 Act if the tenant is using them in a manner that is consistent with the business for which the office premises (the subject of the lease) are used. A car parking space is therefore capable of being occupied even if limited to a specified period during the day. The Court of Appeal in the Pointon Case took a pragmatic approach to the fact and degree of occupation. They have shown that they will not apply different meaning to the words in the statute in the 1954 Act unless there is clear evidence that a different meaning was in fact intended. They found that car parking spaces can be occupied and for the car parking spaces to be capable of being described as premises – they were comprised in the lease and were occupied. As with all documents that are labelled licence or agreement, if they contain the elements of a lease in the event of a dispute that is what a court will determine it to be and hence the potential of such a decision is likely to be the reverse of the landlord’s intention. Landlords should review any arrangement granting a right to use car parking spaces to see whether or not on the basis of the Pointon case in the event of dispute the arrangements could be afforded protection under the 1954 Act and all that ensues from such protection. If you require any further information about the services that we provide or would like to review your financial planning position, please contact us |