ABSTRACT
It is a necessary characteristic of a lease or tenancy that the tenant must have exclusive possession of the premises. This means that the tenant must be given the right to exclude all other persons from the land, including the landlord. However, the mere fact that a person has exclusive possession of land does not necessarily make him a tenant; for he may be only a licensee, having merely a personal privilege to occupy and no interest in the land. The most important distinctions between a lease and a licence are: (a) a lessee, holding a legal lease, has an interest in land which is binding on
the whole world; a licensee has a mere personal right which, at most, binds only licensor and licensee;
(b) a lessee, but not a licensee, may maintain an action in trespass against any person who interferes with his right to possession;
(c) a lessee may assign his lease, whereas a licensee has no proprietary interest capable of assignment; and
(d) a lessee, but not a licensee, enjoys the protection of the Rent Restriction Acts.2
