Leases

In the previous chapter, we discussed some of the issues arising from co-ownership of property. In this chapter, we deal with a set of issues deriving from a different type of property right — the lease, also known as a tenancy. Part of the consideration here is about the dividing line between property and personal rights, to be sure, but the relationships created out of, or because of, a tenancy agreement are just as significant to our discussion. The themes outlined in Chapter 1 are equally relevant here, but the key theme here is legal rationality. The law puts to one side what the parties think they are doing and, instead, by law’s own logic, provides an ‘objective’ solution that is rather different from what the parties thought they were doing. A whole set of sub-disciplines have been formed around this logic (landlord and tenant law; housing law).