Residential leases contain rafts of obligations that leaseholders are required to abide by.
Each lease is different, and each lease will set out the specific obligations of the parties. Things that are permitted in one lease might be prohibited by the lease for the block next door, or perhaps require the consent of the landlord (or management company).
Breaches of covenant
Leases contain covenants. And leaseholders must comply with those covenants. Some covenants are positive (and require leaseholders to take action, for example to keep their flat in a good state of repair and condition. Covenants are also restrictive (and therefore restrict the leaseholder from doing certain things, for example making alterations to their flat).
Where a leaseholder breaches the covenants, they’re in breach of lease.
Common breaches of covenant include:
- unauthorised alterations (where a leaseholder has made alterations to their flat without the consent of the landlord or management company)
- short term (and often nightly) letting of the flat via Airbnb and similar platforms
- keeping pets (including keeping pets without consent)
- use of the flat for business purposes
- failing to keep the flat (and all fixtures and fittings etc) in a good state of repair and condition (including flat front doors)
- nuisance behaviour (often causing inconvenience and/or damage to other occupiers)
- unauthorised subletting and subletting without consent
There are lots of possible breaches and lots of different scenarios. And within our team, we’ve probably had experience of dealing with them all.
Because of our experience and expertise, we’re able to deal with any breaches swiftly and efficiently.
To litigate, or not to litigate……
After all, not every breach of lease needs to result in litigation. It may be a simple oversight on the part of the leaseholder which can be remedied with minimal fuss and expense.
But where early resolution isn’t possible, our County Court and Tribunal experts provide the practical advice our clients rely upon.
Fixed fee service
We recognise our clients want certainty of fees. For non-complex breaches of lease, we’re often able to act on a fixed fee basis. Talk to us to find out more.
