Promoting and enhancing best practice and technical expertise

Commercial Landlord and Tenant Property Matters

Time is of the Essence: Taking the Right Steps at the Right Time

This course provides an annual opportunity to consider key aspects of commercial landlord and tenant property, guided by experts in the field.  Time is critical in generating fee income and avoiding the wrath of disgruntled clients.  When is it the right time to do things? 

Start Date Venue Price  
13 November 2018 Eversheds Sutherland LLP, Birmingham    
6 December 2018 Eversheds Sutherland LLP, London    

Note: All prices are to be paid in GBP and are subject to VAT at the prevailing rate

Event duration: Day Event (5.45 hours CPD) (Lunch Included).
Registration from: 09.30. Event starts at: 10.00. Event finishes at: 17.15.

      We would like to thank Eversheds Sutherland LLP for their use of facilities.

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What are the key areas of dispute between Landlord and Tenant?

  •           Failure to adhere to the lease
  •           Failure to pay the rent and service charges
  •           Disrepair and maintenance
  •           Inherent deficiencies in the lease

Although Parliament and the courts have chipped away at the landlords’ armoury over the past ten or twenty years, there are still useful and effective remedies available to deal with tenants’ non-performance of lease obligations.  Distress for rent has gone, to be replaced with CRAR; the old privity of contract regime has gone; lease guarantees are not the effective back-up that they once were.  The forfeiture of leases remains the ultimate weapon, either to recover possession and remove a difficult tenant, or to obtain compliance with the lease.  It is a remedy which has plenty of pitfalls, therefore a good working knowledge of the ins and outs is required to operate with success.  Understand what might go wrong, and how can you reduce the risk?

What are the key issues as regards arrears of rent and other sums?

What is best practice in dealing with disrepair?  Disrepair will remain a bugbear so long as landlords let property, and it can be hard for the general practice property manager to keep on top of what is a specialist area, being able to resolve issues at lease-end with the minimum expenditure of time and money.  Identifying whether a specific matter falls within the tenant’s repairing obligation may require careful interpretation of the lease. Good working knowledge of how to assess the amount of the claim and the available procedures for pursuing it, is crucial to effective containment of the issues.

Given the news from the high street, and the current round of retail insolvencies, we shall review issues surrounding tenant insolvencies.  

Dilapidations disputes are often seen as a ‘dark art’.  Whilst they can be complex, having to balance different legal, technical, market-related and valuation considerations and are sometimes based on unclear legal precedents, there are some fundamental aspects of dilapidations liability which can be easily understood.  We will review the most common aspects of a dilapidations liability and identify where the law is clear and where it is less so.

Lessons can be learned from disputes and those lessons used to avoid future disputes.  We will touch on the ways in which lease drafting can be varied to make dilapidations and service charge disputes less likely and less significant.  Then, if a dispute does arise, we will review the differing methods of dispute resolution which are available to the parties.

Business Rates can also cause distress to both Landlord & Tenants.  The system was overhauled in April 2017 with the introduction of Check Challenge and Appeal.  Gain understanding where landlords and tenants now stand on such liabilities.  The focus will be on how you can make rational and valid decisions on what to do to mitigate or challenge your rate liabilities.  

Who should attend?

Commercial Landlord and Tenant Surveyors and Property Managers.

Speakers

Programme

Please Note: Simon Griffin will be speaking on the 13th November (Birmingham). Blake Penfold will be taking his place and speaking on the 6th December (London).


Please Note: Samuel Maw will be speaking on the 13th November (Birmingham). David Feist will be speaking on the 6th December (London).

Five Essential Practical Points for Dealing with Tenant Insolvency

  • Do you need permission to forfeit, can you get it, and are there alternatives?
  • Must rent be paid as an insolvency expense?  How much, and when?
  • How far can a Company Voluntary Arrangement go in rewriting leases?
  • Should you accept a surrender of the lease?  Checklist of issues
  • Can you get a direct commitment from the sub-tenant, and on what terms?

      Business Rates

      • Rating changes during past 3 years
      • Assessing your rate burden
      • The staircase tax – what’s this all about
      • Dealing with disrepair post Newbigin
      • The Supreme Court decision in Iceland in regards to plant and machinery
      • Can Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in buildings be used to avoid paying business rates on empty buildings?
      • Mitigation business rates and schemes
      • The trials and tribulations to check challenge and appeal
      • The effects of changing the revaluation frequency

      Repairing, Maintenance and Dilapidation Obligations

      • Tenants' repair, condition and decoration obligations
      • Tenants' alterations and additions
      • Supersession and diminution in value 
      • Managing the dilapidations liability/the claim

      Forfeiture of Leases - The Pros and Cons

      • When forfeiture is the only useful remedy
      • Practicalities of managing property during the 'twilight period'
      • The law of waiver - 'incoherent', but important 
      • Relief and re-letting

      Focusing on Leases Clauses During Drafting

      • Lessons from dilapidations disputes 

      Legislation, Legal and Case Law Update

      • Lease assignments following the decision in EMI Group Limited v. O&H Q1 Limited [2016]
      • Relevance of motive to the statutory grounds for opposing lease renewals pursuant to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 - S Franses Ltd v. Cavendish Hotel (London) Ltd [2017] 
      • Easements over recreational and sporting facilities - Regency Villas Title Ltd v. Diamond Resorts (Europe) Limited [2017]  – What might the Supreme Court decide?
      • Fixtures and vacant possession at lease termination - a trio of cases
      • Rent concession agreements following Vivienne Westwood v Conduit Street Developments [2017]
      • New caselaw on landlord's consents
      • Licence v Lease - an old chestnut in new contexts