Abandoned goods – What rights do landlords have?

You grant a lease or a licence, and the tenant or licensee (in this note, we will refer to both as "tenant") moves out leaving fixtures or other items in the premises. (Fixtures are items which are fixed to buildings or land in a way which indicates that they are not meant to ever be removed and reused somewhere else, and non-fixtures are items such as furniture, computers and other moveable items – referred to in this note as "chattels".)

A landlord's rights in relation to abandoned items will depend very much on the terms of the written lease or licence document. While most leases say something about this issue, some leases, and many licence documents, do not deal with the issue, which can lead to significant problems for both parties.