ABSTRACT
Leases are unusual legal animals; as Nourse LJ observed in the Court of Appeal in City of London CorpvFell: "A tenancy needs a contract to create it. In Linden Gardens Lord Browne-Wilkinson refers to the hybrid nature of leases; part contract, part property. The alienability of leases stems from their treatment as rights in property, and property rights are capable of disposition. The alienability of leases stems from their treatment as rights in property, and property rights are capable of disposition. Leases entered into after 1 January 1996 will be governed by the new regime which moves away from contractual principles to recognise that a tenant should principally be liable only while it owns a property interest. The case confirms a trend towards narrowing the range of variations that can cause a deemed surrender and thereby release the original tenant from liability.
