Lease of an Allotment
This Lease of an Allotment should be used where a community allotment organisation wishes to lease an allotment to an individual.
This Lease is suitable for “private” allotments, rather than local authority-run sites. It is assumed that the Landlord itself has a lease of the whole allotment site and that the Landlord’s lease allows the Landlord to grant underleases of individual allotments.
As the Lease will be granted to a private individual, it should not be a “business” lease and should not therefore attract security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. For that reason, this Lease does not include clauses excluding the Tenant’s right to security of tenure.
There are no rent review provisions, so the Lease is unlikely to be suitable for a term of more than five years. Indeed, the Landlord may prefer (or may be required under the terms of its own lease) to grant a much shorter term, for example one year. The Landlord does not provide any services to the Tenant. Assignment of the whole of the Lease is permitted, subject to obtaining the Landlord’s consent. Underletting is not permitted. There are optional break clauses for both Landlord and Tenant.
Care needs to be taken to ensure that this Lease is consistent with the Landlord’s Superior Lease. For example, if the Superior Lease specifies a maximum length of term for individual allotment leases, that should be reflected in this Lease. The term should in any event be no longer than the term of the Superior Lease. If there is a break clause in the Superior Lease, a similar break clause should appear in this Lease.
This Lease has Land Registry Prescribed Clauses at the beginning. These are not strictly necessary for a lease with a term of less than 7 years but they are included as they helpfully record the main terms.
Prescribed Clause LR3 includes a field for an optional Surety (also known as a guarantor). If there is no Surety, this field can be left blank and Clause 10 (Surety’s covenant) should be deleted.
Prescribed Clause LR4 makes optional reference to a plan. It is strongly recommended that a plan is included so that the extent of the property is clear. The plan should as a minimum show with red edging the property that is being leased to the Tenant. The plan may also need to show the areas (if any) over which rights are granted to the Tenant in the First Schedule to the Lease if these areas cannot be adequately described in words.
In Clause 2 the Landlord grants the Lease to the Tenant. The Tenant must pay the Rent.
Clause 3 contains the Tenant’s covenants. These cover matters such as payment of utilities charges, keeping the Premises in good condition, the Landlord’s rights of entry, use, alterations, alienation (assignment and underletting), indemnity and payment of Landlord’s costs.
Clause 4 contains the Landlord’s covenants. These cover for quiet enjoyment (the Tenant’s right to use the Premises without interference from the Landlord) and the enforcement by the Landlord of the Superior Landlord’s covenants in the Superior Lease.
Clause 5 contains various standard lease clauses including forfeiture.
Clause 6 limits the Landlord’s liability in respect of accidents or problems occurring at the Premises.
Clause 7 deals with service of notices by the Landlord and Tenant and incorporates section 196 of the Law of Property Act 1925. This means that notices should be delivered by hand or sent by recorded or special delivery post. If the notice is sent by recorded or special delivery post, service is deemed to occur at the time at which the letter would “in the ordinary course” be delivered.
Clauses 8 and 9 contain optional break clauses (termination rights) for the Landlord and Tenant. These clauses should be amended or deleted as appropriate. The Tenant’s break option is conditional on rent have been paid up to date, the tenant giving up possession of the Premises (i.e. vacating) and the tenant not leaving any underleases in place. If these conditions are not satisfied, the Tenant’s break will not be effective and the lease will continue. If the Tenant is in breach of other terms of the Lease, e.g. necessary repairs have not been carried out, the break will be effective but the Landlord will retain the right to sue the Tenant for any breaches of the Lease.
The Lease should be executed as a deed. Various types of execution clauses are included and the parties should choose the appropriate clauses.
The First Schedule sets out the rights that the Tenant has to use other property. These rights should be checked carefully and amended or deleted to suit the circumstances.
The Second Schedule sets out the rights that the Landlord has in respect of the Premises, including rights of entry and the right to carry out work to neighbouring property. If any additional rights are required they should be added to the Second Schedule.
The Third Schedule has a set of regulations the Tenant must comply with. Under Clause 3.1.25 the Landlord and the Superior Landlord have the right to make further regulations from time to time for the better management and control of the Premises. Regulation 4 prohibits the keeping of animals on the Premises but there is optional wording permitting certain types of animal, e.g. chickens or bees.
Optional phrases / clauses are enclosed in square brackets. These should be read carefully and selected so as to be compatible with one another. Unused options should be removed from the document.
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