Notting Hill Housing Trust v Brackley [2001] EWCA Civ 601
The ending of a tenancy by a joint tenant without the consent of the other tenant under TOLATA.
Facts
A married couple held a periodic tenancy on a property as joint tenants, which could be terminated on four weeks’ notice. Subsequently, the wife vacated the property and, without her husband’s knowledge, served a notice to quit on the landlord. The husband argued that the notice was invalid as he had not consented to it, whilst the landlord sought to rely on the notice to quit so as to regain possession. The husband submitted that the joint tenancy amounted to a trust for land and thus that his wife had breached this trust when she provided the notice (and thus exercised a function) without consulting him as a beneficiary of the trust, in violation of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, s. 11.
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Issues
Whether the ending of a joint tenancy by one of the tenants without consulting the other tenant amounted to the exercise of a trustee function triggering the duty to consult under section 11.
Decision/Outcome
The Court of Appeal dismissed Mr Brackley’s appeal and made an order for possession. A joint tenant who serves a valid notice to quit a periodic tenancy acts in a personal capacity, rather than exercising a trustee function. The notice indicates that the joint tenant does not agree to continue the tenancy for another period. The section 11 duty to consult did not apply.
