When Is A House Not A House?

Landlords will welcome the recent decision of the Supreme Court restricting the rights of tenants of long leases to acquire the freehold interest in their property under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. Jonathan Crook from our Commercial Property Team looks at this in more detail.

The tenants of some long leases of houses have the right to acquire the freehold interest from the landlord (or to be granted a lease extension).  This right is technically called enfranchisement.

The type of properties that benefit from this valuable right has been the subject of a number of cases over the years.  The test is whether the property is a "house", which in turn includes "any building designed or adapted for living in and reasonably so called".