Cases - Forte & Co Ltd v General Accident Life Assurance Ltd
Record details
- Name
- Forte & Co Ltd v General Accident Life Assurance Ltd
- Date
- (1986)
- Citation
- 2 EGLR 115 or 279 EG 1227
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Commercial property – landlord and tenant – rent review – grant of overriding lease, subject to an existing lease of part of the premises at a fixed rent – hypothetical letting – vacant possession – whether vacant possession should be assumed in respect of that part of the premises which had been subject to the pre-existing fixed rent – whether the tenant had carried out voluntary improvements or improvements pursuant to a landlord’s obligation
- Summary
-
The tenant was granted an overriding lease of premises, subject to an existing lease of part of the premises at a fixed rent. Rent reviews under the overriding lease were to be based on a hypothetical letting of the entire premises but the clause did not expressly state whether vacant possession should be assumed. The tenant successfully argued that vacant possession should not be assumed in respect of that part of the premises which had been let subject to the pre-existing fixed rent lease. However, the tenant unsuccessfully also argued that fire precaution works which he carried out under a statutory obligation were to be disregarded as being voluntary improvements; the landlord succeeded in arguing that those statutory works had been carried out pursuant to an obligation to the landlord, because the lease contained a covenant by the tenant to comply with statutory requirements.