Marks & Spencer PLC v BNP Paribas Securities Services Trust Co
The tenant argued that a term should be implied into the lease that, upon the break taking effect, the rent for the broken period should be returnable. The parties had expressly so provided in relation to service charges. The Court of Appeal accepted the landlord’s submission, however, that no such term could be implied. Other terms of the lease showed that the parties had considered what would happen post-break date in other contexts, and further the possibility that a tenant could be liable for a full rental period payable immediately before the break date was obvious from the lease. Further, the parties would have been aware of the underlying case law as part of the admissible background, and one could conclude that, if the parties had intended there to be a term to this effect, they would in fact have made express provision for it. Guy Fetherstonhaugh QC appeared for the tenant, and Nicholas Dowding QC for the landlord.
A number of articles on the question of payments in relation to break options may be found in our articles section.
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