Leaseholds in Europe

Definition of Leaseholds

Lands held under a lease for years. They are personal estate, being chattels real. Leaseholds are transferable by assignment and the assignee is liable to the lessor on the covenants in the lease which run with the land so long as he holds under the lease. (See Covenant.) But the original lessee remains liable to the lessor on the covenants, notwithstanding any assignment, and is entitled to be indemnified by the assignee. In a conveyance of leaseholds for valuable consideration by a beneficial owner, a covenant as to the validity of the lease is implied. After 1925 a mortgage of leaseholds can only be by sub-demise of a term shorter by one day that the term of the lessee, or by a deed of charge by way of legal mortgage. (Law of Property Act, 1925, s. 86.).
Leaseholds, on the death of the lessee, vest in his personal representatives. Before 1926 the personal representatives were liable on the covenants of the lease until they assigned it, unless the deceased was the original lessee, in which case the personal representatives were liable on the covenants to pay rent to the extent of the deceased’s assets, and were liable on the other covenants if they took possession of the property, unless they prepared to meet both accrued liabilities and future claims, and assigned to a purchaser. By the Trustee Act, 1925, s. 26, this protection is extended to the cases of transfer to a legatee, devisee, or other person entitled.
Where there is a residue unexpired’ of not less than two hundred years of a term originally created for at least three hundred years, unaffected by a trust or right of redemption in favour of a reversioner, and subject to no rent of money value, the term may be enlarged into a fee simple by deed ; provided it is not liable to be determined by re-entry for condition broken, and is not a sub-demise out of a superior term itself incapable of enlargement. (Law of Property Act, 1925, s. 153.).
Under a contract to grant or assign a term of years out of freehold or leasehold land, the intended lessee or assign shall not have the right to call for the title to the freehold or leasehold reversion, as the case may be. (Ibid., s. 44.)

Browse

You might be interested in these references tools:

Leaseholds in other legal encyclopedias

If you search for an entry, then decide you want to see what another legal encyclopedia says about it, you may find your entry in this section.

Explore the European Encyclopedia of Law

You can also find related entries in the following areas of law:

Further Information

• Open European Encyclopedia
• Did you mean??
• Notice
• Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)
• Resources

Definition of Leaseholds is, temporally, from A Concise Law Dictionary (1927). This page needs to be proofread.

See related entries below: