|
|
|
Fixed-term tenancy or tenancy for years
|
24.08 '07
|
|
A fixed-term tenancy or tenancy for years lasts for some fixed period of time. Despite the name tenancy for years, such a tenancy can last for any period of time — even a tenancy for one week would be called a tenancy for years. The duration need not be certain, but may be conditioned upon the happening of some event, (e.g. "until the crops are ready for harvest", "until the war is over"). In either case, the lease expires automatically upon the running of the specified time, or the occurrence of the specified event. If the lease is more than a year, the agreement to create it must generally be executed in writing, to satisfy the Statute of Frauds. If a lease is purported to be a tenancy for years of more than one year, and it is not put in writing, then it automatically becomes a periodic tenancy, with a rental period equal to the period between lease payments, but of no more than a year.
Termination of a fixed-term tenancy
The landlord and tenant can agree to terminate the lease at any time, which is called a surrender of the lease. Like the lease itself, if the term remaining on the lease at the time of the surrender exceeds one year, then the surrender must be executed in writing. A tenancy for years can also be terminated by the tenant's breach of any leasehold covenants, including the failure to pay promised rent, or allowing the land to waste.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
