13.07.2015 Views

Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

Consultation Paper on the General Law of the Landlord and Tenant

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

which has been served will prove to be invalid. Hence <strong>the</strong> need totake <strong>the</strong> precauti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> providing a “slip” provisi<strong>on</strong> in <strong>the</strong> notice. 1813.06 The Commissi<strong>on</strong> is <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> view that practiti<strong>on</strong>ers wouldwelcome legislati<strong>on</strong> which clarifies <strong>the</strong> comm<strong>on</strong> law rules <strong>and</strong>introduces some certainty <strong>and</strong> simplicity. In particular <strong>the</strong> statutoryprovisi<strong>on</strong>s should be easy to operate, so that in future practiti<strong>on</strong>erscan feel secure in <strong>the</strong> knowledge that a notice which has been serveddoes not run <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong> risk <strong>of</strong> being held to be invalid. The Commissi<strong>on</strong>is not c<strong>on</strong>vinced that it would be appropriate to extend to business <strong>and</strong>mixed use tenancies <strong>the</strong> provisi<strong>on</strong>s c<strong>on</strong>tained in <strong>the</strong> ResidentialTenancies Bill 2003. Those are designed to complement <strong>the</strong>provisi<strong>on</strong>s c<strong>on</strong>ferring security <strong>of</strong> tenure <strong>on</strong> tenancies <strong>of</strong> dwellings, 19hence <strong>the</strong> displacement <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r methods <strong>of</strong> terminati<strong>on</strong> usuallyavailable. 20 No such displacement is c<strong>on</strong>templated for business ormixed use tenancies.13.07 The Commissi<strong>on</strong> inclines to <strong>the</strong> view that in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong>tenancies not covered by specific legislati<strong>on</strong>, like <strong>the</strong> ResidentialTenancies Bill, <strong>the</strong>re should be general legislati<strong>on</strong> which provides formatters such as <strong>the</strong> following: (1) where it is uncertain what category<strong>of</strong> periodic tenancy exists, a minimum statutory period <strong>of</strong> notice (say3 m<strong>on</strong>ths) should be sufficient; (2) a notice served for <strong>the</strong> statutoryperiod should be in writing; (3) in any case, whe<strong>the</strong>r a comm<strong>on</strong> law orstatutory period <strong>of</strong> notice, <strong>the</strong> notice could be served at any time <strong>and</strong>end <strong>on</strong> any date (provided <strong>the</strong> period <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> notice is sufficient); (4)some guidance <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> procedure for service. 21 The Commissi<strong>on</strong>provisi<strong>on</strong>ally recommends that general statutory provisi<strong>on</strong>s to clarify<strong>and</strong> simplify <strong>the</strong> law relating to notices to quit should be introducedfor all tenancies not covered by specific legislati<strong>on</strong>.18192021See Wylie op cit paragraph 23.20.In Part 4 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bill.Such as forfeiture for breach <strong>of</strong> obligati<strong>on</strong>: see paragraph 13.04 above.Eg adapting to notices to quit <strong>the</strong> provisi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>of</strong> secti<strong>on</strong> 67 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>C<strong>on</strong>veyancing Act 1881 (which apply <strong>on</strong>ly to notices served under thatAct): see Wylie op cit paragraph 23.30.160

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!