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01 August 2013 / Philip Sissons
Issue: 7571 / Categories: Features , Property
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Putting on the breaks

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Philip Sissons discusses the issue of recovering rent after the exercise of a break clause
After a series of decisions in which the High Court has repeatedly found for landlords in respect of the proper construction of break clauses conditional upon payment of rent down to the break date, the decision of Mr Justice Morgan in Marks & Spencer Plc v BNP Paribas [2013] EWHC 1279, [2013] All ER (D) 214 (May) provides some comfort for tenants who have managed to comply with that condition. In Marks & Spencer, Morgan J decided that a tenant who had validly exercised a break clause was entitled to recover sums paid in respect of a period after the determination of the lease. The judgment also considers the proper test to be applied when a party contends that a term should be implied into a lease and is also, therefore, of broader significance beyond this specific situation.

Rent payment

Break clauses included in modern commercial leases invariably include, as a pre-condition to the effective operation of the break,

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