Question
I am the tenant under a 90-year lease of a mixed-use property
which was converted from a house many years ago. I applied for the
landlord's consent to assign to a company which intends to use
the entirety of the property for residential use. The landlord has
refused and given three grounds for doing so. I think that two of
the landlord's grounds are unreasonable. I also consider the
landlord's decision to be unreasonable in that the landlord is
seeking, for its own benefit, to restrict a use of my property that
is allowed by my lease. Can I successfully challenge it?
Answer
No. In the particular circumstances of your case the
landlord's decision is likely to be held to be reasonable if
you sought a declaration from the court. Although two of the
grounds for refusal are unreasonable, the other ground is
reasonable. The question is whether the decision to refuse consent
was reasonable, not whether all the reasons for the decision were
reasonable.
