ABSTRACT
The effects of a certificate of proper improvement being granted by the court are as follows:
(a) it entitles the tenant to carry out the works certified. However, it should be noted that the tenant does not have to carry out the works if it decides that it no longer wishes to go ahead with them;
(b) it establishes in part the tenant’s right to compensation at the end of the lease. In order to claim compensation a tenant must carry out the works specified in the certificate, comply with any conditions laid down by the court and complete the work within any time limit imposed by the court or agreed between the landlord and the tenant (s 3(5) of the 1927 Act). Failure to abide by any of these requirements will not render the improvements unlawful, but will prevent the tenant from being able to claim compensation at the end of the tenancy;
(c) it may make an improvement lawful which would otherwise have been in breach of the terms of the lease.
