10. Leases

Abstract

This chapter discusses the nature, creation, and forms of leases. The leasehold estate is one of the two possible estates in land. The lease is, essentially, consensual exclusive possession of land for a limited duration. The purposes to which leases are put range from very short-term occupation agreements to leases lasting hundreds of years. In order to create a valid lease, the formalities which are required will depend upon the length of the lease which the parties are attempting to create and the type of lease to which they wish to give rise, as well as the nature of the rights which they currently have. There are different forms of leases: periodic tenancies; tenancies at will; and the Bruton tenancy. The chapter then assesses how the relationship between landlord and tenant is managed both during and after the contractual term of the lease. It also looks at one of the most flexible and useful aspect of leases, the ability to sublet, to create concurrent leases, and the nature of the reversionary interest during the currency of the lease.