Consent in Leases: Alienation and Alterations

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Contents

Landlord’s consent will often have to be sought in commercial leases where the tenant wishes to deal with his interest (assignment, subletting etc) or to carry out alterations. This session is a practical guide those advising landlords or tenants on the pitfalls to be avoided (and how) and ways in which the process of consent can be streamlined and speeded-up to achieve the best possible result for all parties. The session provides a practical review of existing and new case law, as well as the impact of statute looking at cases such as Topland (inadvertent release of guarantor); Singh v Dhanji (damages for failure to give consent) and whether or not s19(1A) clauses allow the landlord to absolutely refuse consent following Zinc Cobham v Adda, the role of pre-conditions in TCG v Girdlers and No 1 West India Quay and the role of IDF in other ‘consent’ covenants.

Learning Objectives

As a result of watching this video, delegates will:

• Understand the landlord’s statutory duties in connection with an application to assign/sub-let or to carry out alterations, and the impact of statute on the lease wording
• Be aware of the problems with alienation covenants with pre-conditions, and how to avoid them
• Be able to advise landlords on what basis they may be able to refuse consent to assign/alter, how and whether (and if so what) any conditions may be imposed
• Be alert to the potential pitfall of granting a licence in spite of an absolute prohibition in the lease in the light of the Topland case

Speaker

SARAH THOMPSON-COPSEY

Sarah Thompson-Copsey is a former property litigation partner at the City law firm now known as Dentons, handling all types of commercial property problems, but with an emphasis on avoiding & resolving commercial landlord and tenant disputes. Sarah now works as a freelance lecturer, trainer and author and lectures & writes regularly on commercial property topics, as well as providing independent auditing and consulting services for law firms.

Sarah is co-author of Tenants’ Pre-emption Rights: A landlord’s guide to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (Jordans) and Mixed Use and Residential Tenants’ Rights: The Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 and Leasehold Enfranchisement, (Elsevier 2009). She is also on the property consultation board of Practical Law Company and a site editor for the Property Law website at www.propertylawuk.net.