Demise

A “demise” or “lease” is the grant of a right to the exclusive possession of land for a determinate term less than that which the grantor has himself in the land. A lease is therefore a species of conveyance, and it is provided by s (2)05(1)(ii) of the Law of Property Act 1925 that the word “conveyance” in that Act includes “lease” unless the context otherwise requires. The word “lease” may be used, however, to refer either to the grant of the right or to the right itself, namely, the term vested in the grantee. A leasehold interest, or a term of years absolute is one of the two categories of legal estate capable of being created or of subsisting in English law (1) Although a lease is created by contract, it results in the creation of an estate (or status) which can exist independently of contract, at least in so far as the obligations created by the lease touch and concern the land. Thus a leasehold estate may subsist even though the original tenant has ceased to be contractually liable to perform any of the obligations contained in the lease. “The contractual obligations which touch and concern the land having become imprinted on the estate, the tenancy is capable of existence as a species of property independently of the contract.”2

In the relationship between landlord and tenant, the landlord owns the building and the premises demised to the tenant is the whole or part of the building. The tenant leases the demised premises (or premises) and the legal relationship between landlord and tenant is based upon the terms and conditions of the lease. The terms and conditions are often described as provisions.

The terms and conditions of a tenancy are embodied in a document, known as a 'lease'. Although the word ‘lease’ is commonly used, actually the lease is the document, the type of occupancy either a tenancy or licence. I use the terminology ‘lease’ loosely, because the terms and conditions of a licence are also in a document, but calling a document a ‘licence’ does not make it one.