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Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

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provisi<strong>on</strong>ally recommends that <strong>the</strong> protecti<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>ferred <strong>on</strong> certainlessees by secti<strong>on</strong> 30 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>L<strong>and</strong>lord</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tenant</strong> (Ground Rents) Act1967, c<strong>on</strong>cerning freedom to seek insurance cover, should beextended to all tenants.B Deasy’s Act11.03 Deasy’s Act does not deal directly with insurance, but <strong>the</strong>reis <strong>on</strong>e provisi<strong>on</strong> which has a bearing <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> subject, namely secti<strong>on</strong>40. That secti<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>fers <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> tenant a right to surrender <strong>the</strong> tenancywhere <strong>the</strong> dwelling house or o<strong>the</strong>r building c<strong>on</strong>stituting <strong>the</strong>“substantial matter” <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> demise “shall be destroyed, becomeruinous <strong>and</strong> uninhabitable, or incapable <strong>of</strong> beneficial occupati<strong>on</strong> orenjoyment, by accidental fire or o<strong>the</strong>r inevitable accident, <strong>and</strong> without<strong>the</strong> default or neglect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> said tenant”. To some extent this wasearly statutory recogniti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> a form <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> doctrine <strong>of</strong> frustrati<strong>on</strong>. 711.04 It is crucial to note, however, that <strong>the</strong> secti<strong>on</strong> does not applywhere <strong>the</strong> lease or tenancy agreement c<strong>on</strong>tains “an express covenantor agreement binding <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> tenant to repair” <strong>the</strong> building. Mostcommercial leases, being in <strong>the</strong> typical “FRI” (full repairing <strong>and</strong>insurance) form, will c<strong>on</strong>tain such a repairing covenant. However,since <strong>the</strong> tenant will usually also be paying for insurance cover, ei<strong>the</strong>rdirectly or by way <strong>of</strong> reimbursement <strong>of</strong> premiums paid by <strong>the</strong>l<strong>and</strong>lord, 8 it is usual for <strong>the</strong> repairing covenant to exclude repairsrelating to damage coming within <strong>the</strong> “insured risks”. 9 The point isthat it would be grossly unfair that <strong>the</strong> tenant should pay <strong>the</strong> cost <strong>of</strong>insurance designed to cover repairs <strong>and</strong> also have to meet <strong>the</strong> cost <strong>of</strong>those same repairs. What has caused much debate am<strong>on</strong>gstpractiti<strong>on</strong>ers is whe<strong>the</strong>r such an exclusi<strong>on</strong> in <strong>the</strong> repairing covenantnullifies its effectiveness to exclude <strong>the</strong> operati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> secti<strong>on</strong> 40, ie <strong>the</strong>excepti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> an obligati<strong>on</strong> to carry out repairs in respect <strong>of</strong> uninsuredrisks results in <strong>the</strong>re being no covenant or agreement to repair within<strong>the</strong> meaning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> secti<strong>on</strong>. If it were so c<strong>on</strong>strued, <strong>the</strong>reby entitling<strong>the</strong> tenant to surrender <strong>the</strong> lease, it would defeat <strong>the</strong> whole purpose <strong>of</strong>789See <strong>on</strong> this doctrine paragraph 12.12 below.Eg where <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lord in a multi-let development arranges a “block” policycovering <strong>the</strong> entire development.See <strong>the</strong> precedents in Divisi<strong>on</strong> L.2 <strong>of</strong> Laffoy’s Irish C<strong>on</strong>veyancingPrecedents (Looseleaf Butterworths).142

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