Lace v Chantler
A lease for the duration of the war was void because its maximum term was uncertain.
Facts
During the Second World War, a house was let for the duration of the war. The landlord later sought possession, and the question arose whether the tenancy was valid, and if so, for how long it lasted.
Legal principle
The Court of Appeal held that the agreement could not create a valid lease for the duration of the war, because the term was uncertain. Lord Greene MR said that a term created by a leasehold tenancy agreement must be expressed either with certainty and specifically or by reference to something which can, at the time when the lease takes effect, be looked to as a certain ascertainment of what the term is meant to be. Because the length of the war could not be known when the lease was granted, the term was uncertain. Parliament later passed the Validation of War-Time Leases Act 1944 to convert such leases into ten year terms.
Related cases on leases and licences
- AG Securities v Vaughan; Antoniades v Villiers [1990] 1 AC 417
- Ashburn Anstalt v Arnold [1989] Ch 1
- Aslan v Murphy [1990] 1 WLR 766
- Berrisford v Mexfield Housing Co-operative Ltd [2011] UKSC 52, [2012] 1 AC 955
- Binions v Evans [1972] Ch 359
- Bruton v London & Quadrant Housing Trust [2000] 1 AC 406
- Errington v Errington and Woods [1952] 1 KB 290
- Facchini v Bryson [1952] 1 TLR 1386
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