Street v Mountford (1985) Ac 809
In this case an agreement provided for exclusive residential occupation of furnished premises for rent. The interest given under the agreement was however described as a personal licence - not a lease. The question for the court was whether or not the agreement was a tenancy.
Exclusive occupation was conceded in the case and it was held that the agreement did create a tenancy.
Lord Templeman: "In the case of residential accommodation there is no difficulty in deciding whether the grant confers exclusive possession. An occupier of residential accommodation at a rent for a term is either a lodger or a tenant. The occupier is a lodger if the landlord provides attendance or services which require the landlord or his servants to exercise unrestricted access to and use of the premises. A lodger is entitled to live in the premises but cannot call the place his own. If on the other hand residential accommodation is granted for a term at a rent with exclusive possession, the landlord providing neither attendance nor services, the grant is a tenancy."
He continued: "The decision in the case is sustainable on the grounds that the occupier was a lodger and did not enjoy exclusive possession... in order to ascertain the nature and quality of the occupancy and to see whether the occupier has or has not a stake in the room or only permission for himself personally to occupy, the court must decide whether on its true construction the agreement confers on the occupier exclusive possession. If exclusive possession at a rent for a term does not constitute a tenancy then the distinction between a contractual tenancy and a contractual licence of land becomes wholly unidentifiable."
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