Sharing possession and sharing occupation


Published by a ½Û×ÓÊÓƵ Property Disputes expert
Practice notes

Sharing possession and sharing occupation


Published by a ½Û×ÓÊÓƵ Property Disputes expert

Practice notes
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'Possession' and 'occupation' are not interchangeable expressions. A covenant in a lease that forbids parting with possession is not broken by a tenant who, in law, retains possession, even though the tenant allows another to use and occupy the premises.

Possession

Possession includes the right to receive rents and income from a property. There is no parting with possession by a tenant unless the person allowed into occupation by the tenant has the right to exclude all others, including the tenant, from the premises. Thus, in Reiner v Triplark, a tenant parted with possession by assigning the lease, even though the assignment had not been registered at HM Land Registry and so the legal title remained vested in the tenant. The assignee had taken control of the premises and had the right to exclude all others from the premises.

In the case of a prohibition on sharing possession, possession is interpreted in the same strict way and does not include, and therefore does not prevent, sharing occupation. A covenant against sharing possession prevents the conversion

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United Kingdom

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