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ARTICLE · 26 MAY 2013

Rent Refunds After a Break

Reed Smith (Worldwide)
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The recent trend in Court decisions on conditional break clauses has been in favour of landlords but we have just seen a significant case decided in favour of tenants so that after successfully exercising a conditional break Marks and Spencer (the tenant) were entitled to a refund of the proportion of the rent (paid in advance) for the period after the break date.

United KingdomReal Estate and Construction
Katherine A. Campbell
Katherine A. Campbell
Siobhan Hayes
Siobhan Hayes
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The recent trend in Court decisions on conditional break clauses has been in favour of landlords but we have just seen a significant case decided in favour of tenants so that after successfully exercising a conditional break Marks and Spencer (the tenant) were entitled to a refund of the proportion of the rent (paid in advance) for the period after the break date. Will this affect all conditional breaks and will tenants start claiming refunds for previous breaks?

Why was the tenant entitled to a refund? The High Court implied a term into Marks and Spencer's lease that the rent was to be refunded even though there was no express clause and certainly no settled law to that effect.

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