A RARE TREAT!

Acting on behalf of a long term educational client, The Gower School, Ashurst Real Estate, recently dealt with a somewhat rare, Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 lease renewal of its premises at 18 North Road, London N7.

With the majority of modern leases now being contracted outside of the security of tenure provisions of this historic piece of legislation, it’s not every day that the technical manuals get taken out of the cupboard and dusted down.

This lease renewal included a whole host of procedural talking points under The Act for both Landlord and Tenant to negotiate.

Contentious issues included incorrectly served statutory notices, undocumented yet verbally agreed additions to the building footprint, improvements versus repairs, confusion as to what should and should not be included for valuation purposes under The Act, insertion of landlord redevelopment options and of course what the ultimate, current day value should be.

We are unable to report a massive saving in the rent on our client’s behalf as The Landlord had missed several previous rent reviews and the rent was always going to increase from its historic low point.

What this 1954 Act renewal underlined was that whether you are a landlord or a tenant, the need to have professional advice throughout the lease term is paramount.

It does not stop when the lease is signed and start again at a contracted lease event..……taking care of your interest and rights under the Act is an ongoing process.

Both parties concluded this 1954 Act renewal somewhat battered and bruised but with a win win outcome.

It’s fair to say that this was an educational experience for all concerned!