Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993

Part IV Terms of lease granted to freeholder

Duration of lease and rent

8 The lease shall be a lease granted for a term of 999 years at a peppercorn rent.

General rights to be granted

9 The lease shall not exclude or restrict the general words implied under section 62 of the [1925 c. 20.] Law of Property Act 1925, unless the exclusion or restriction is made for the purpose of preserving or recognising an existing right or interest of any person.

Rights of support, passage of water etc.

10 (1) This paragraph applies to rights of any of the following descriptions, namely—

(a) rights of support for a building or part of a building;

(b) rights to the access of light and air to a building or part of a building;

(c) rights to the passage of water or of gas or other piped fuel, or to the drainage or disposal of water, sewage, smoke or fumes, or to the use or maintenance of pipes or other installations for such passage, drainage or disposal; and

(d) rights to the use or maintenance of cables or other installations for the supply of electricity, for the telephone or for the receipt directly or by landline of visual or other wireless transmissions;

and the provisions required to be included in the lease by virtue of sub-paragraph (2) are accordingly provisions relating to any such rights.

(2) The lease shall include provisions having the effect of—

(a) granting with the demised premises (so far as the lessor is capable of granting them)—

(i) all such easements and rights over other property as are necessary to secure as nearly as may be for the benefit of the demised premises the same rights as exist for the benefit of those premises immediately before the appropriate time, and

(ii) such further easements and rights (if any) as are necessary for the reasonable enjoyment of the demised premises; and

(b) making the demised premises subject to the following easements and rights (so far as they are capable of existing in law), namely—

(i) all easements and rights for the benefit of other property to which the demised premises are subject immediately before the appropriate time, and

(ii) such further easements and rights (if any) as are necessary for the reasonable enjoyment of other property, being property in which the lessor acquires an interest at the appropriate time.

Rights of way

11 The lease shall include—

(a) such provisions (if any) as the lessee may require for the purpose of securing to him, and persons deriving title under him, rights of way over other property (so far as the lessor is capable of granting them), being rights of way that are necessary for the reasonable enjoyment of the demised premises; and

(b) such provisions (if any) as the lessor may require for the purpose of making the demised premises subject to rights of way necessary for the reasonable enjoyment of other property, being property in which the lessor acquires an interest at the appropriate time.

Common use of premises and facilities

12 The lease shall include, so far as the lessor is capable of granting them, the like rights to use in common with others any premises, facilities or services as are enjoyed immediately before the appropriate time by any tenant of the demised premises.

Covenants affecting demised premises

13 The lease shall include such provisions (if any) as the lessor may require to secure that the lessee is bound by, or to indemnify the lessor against breaches of, restrictive covenants (that is to say, covenants or agreements restrictive of the use of any land or premises) affecting the demised premises immediately before the appropriate time and enforceable for the benefit of other property.

Covenants by lessor

14 (1) The lease shall include covenants by the lessor—

(a) to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the demised premises and of the specified premises (including drains, gutters and external pipes) and to make good any defect affecting that structure;

(b) to keep in repair any other property over or in respect of which the lessee has rights by virtue of this Schedule;

(c) to ensure, so far as practicable, that the services which are to be provided by the lessor and to which the lessee is entitled (whether alone or in common with others) are maintained at a reasonable level, and to keep in repair any installation connected with the provision of any of those services.

(2) The lease shall include a covenant requiring the lessor—

(a) to insure the specified premises for their full reinstatement value against destruction or damage by fire, tempest, flood or any other cause against the risk of which it is the normal practice to insure;

(b) to rebuild or reinstate the demised premises or the specified premises in the case of any such destruction or damage.

Covenants by lessee

15 The lease shall include a covenant by the lessee to ensure that the interior of the demised premises is kept in good repair (including decorative repair).

Contributions by lessee

16 (1) The lease may require the lessee to bear a reasonable part of the costs incurred by the lessor in discharging or insuring against the obligations imposed by the covenants required by paragraph 14(1) or in discharging the obligation imposed by the covenant required by paragraph 14(2)(a).

(2) Where a covenant required by paragraph 14(1) or (2)(a) has been modified to any extent in accordance with paragraph 4 or 7, the reference in sub-paragraph (1) above to the obligations or (as the case may be) the obligation imposed by that covenant shall be read as a reference to the obligations or obligation imposed by that covenant as so modified.

Assignment and sub-letting of premises

17 (1) Except where the demised premises consist of or include any unit let or intended for letting on a business lease, the lease shall not include any provision prohibiting or restricting the assignment of the lease or the sub-letting of the whole or part of the demised premises.

(2) Where the demised premises consist of or include any such unit as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (1), the lease shall contain a prohibition against—

(a) assigning or sub-letting the whole or part of any such unit, or

(b) altering the user of any such unit,

without the prior written consent of the lessor (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld).

Restriction on terminating lease

18 The lease shall not include any provision for the lease to be terminated otherwise than by forfeiture on breach of any term of the lease by the lessee.