were two

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

cases decided in the same ruling, which together clarified and confirmed as pivotal the role of exclusive possession in identifying what constitutes a

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

(including a tenancy) for the purposes of

English land law English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal ...

Facts and prior Court of Appeal rulings

In the first case, AG Securities, an unlimited company, owned 25 Linden Mansions, Hornsey Lane, London: four bedrooms and communal areas (for the bedrooms' occupants). It rented (let) these to Nigel Vaughan and three others. Each moved in at different times from 1982, signing independent agreements. In May 1985 AG Securities terminated the agreements. They claimed they jointly held a tenancy (a lease) and therefore had statutory protection. The judge held there was no lease, this was a licence. The Court of Appeal held the reverse, but Sir George Waller dissented. 6 Whiteley Road

In the second case, Mr Antoniades owned 6 Whiteley Rd,

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark. It is north of Croydon and the eastern part of it is better known as the Crystal Palace area. Upper Norwood is situated ...

, London, with a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, and rented it to Mr Villiers and Miss Bridger. They moved in together and signed identical agreements on 9 February 1985. These stated that the Rent Acts did not apply and that ‘the licensor is not willing to grant... exclusive possession’ and that the use of the flat was ‘in common with the licensor and such other licensees or invitees as he may permit from time to time’. Clause 16 said that other people could use the rooms. In 1986 Mr Antoniades claimed possession. Statute would limit the power to remove them. Judge held they did have a lease. The Court of Appeal held they were licensees. These cases were appealed to the

House of Lords

The House of Lords held that Mr Vaughan with his co-tenants were licensees only and not tenants, because none had exclusive possession and their rights could not be amalgamated to give a joint lease, while Mr Villiers and Ms Bridger did have exclusive possession of their room - albeit jointly - and therefore did have a lease, despite the wording of their agreements which identified them as having only a licence (to occupy). In discussing these cases, Lord Templeman observed that tenants could be described as those people entitled to be protected with security of tenure and maximum rents since the

Rent Act 1915 Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

, up to the

Rent Act 1977 The Rent Act 1977 (c. 42) was an Act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom. The Act introduced the protected tenancy in England and Wales. The organization setting the rent, the Valuation Office Agency, was known as the "Rent Office". See ...

. 9901 AC 417, 458-65 People could not contract out of such laws, which were intended to protect the vulnerable from harm and to prevent

consent Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. Consent as und ...

to substandard treatment by means of

coercion Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...

, nor could they be avoided by choosing words that did not match the reality. If that were possible, then sham wordings would merely become the norm, and the protective intent of the law would be unachieved:

Notes

{{reflist

References

*N Gravells (ed), ''Landmark Cases in Land Law'' (2013)

External links

AG Securities v Vaughan
English property case law English land case law House of Lords cases 1988 in United Kingdom case law

Facts and prior Court of Appeal rulings

House of Lords

See also

Notes

References

External links