Rajeev Nayyar finds the recession leaves landlords with fewer choices
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Failure to follow these requirements may leave the landlord vulnerable to a claim for breach of statutory duty that could result in a court declaration that consent has been unreasonably withheld and damages. Further, where consent has been unreasonably withheld the landlord is not entitled to remove the assignee if it occupies without licence. The key factor that the landlord must consider is whether no reasonable landlord would withhold consent to the requested assignment, having regard to the identity and character of the assignee.
Landlords may be on the receiving end of calls from tenants on the brink of insolvency requesting consent to assign, possibly to a newly incorporated company with no trading history or past accounts. When the market was buoyant they may have been reluctant to grant consent to the assignment but in the current market landlords are struggling with increased tenant defaults and falling capital values. These drops in capital value are magnified
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