Notting Hill Housing Trust v Brackley [2001]

A married couple were joint tenants of a property let by the landlord Housing Trust as a periodic tenancy. The tenancy was terminable on four weeks notice. The wife later left the property and, on the advice of the landlord, served a notice to quit terminating the tenancy. She did not consult with her husband before doing so. The tenancy was determined, and the landlord relied on the notice to quit when seeking possession.
At trial, the husband argued that as the joint tenancy had been held under a trust for land, his wife had acted in breach of trust as he was a beneficiary of the trust and she had not consulted him. He said that the giving of the notice was a ‘function’ of the trustee of land, and section 11 of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 requires trustees of land to consult with beneficiaries before executing a relevant function.
The judge ordered possession of the property, a he had held as a preliminary issue that the giving of notice was not, for the purposes of s.11, a function.

On appeal:
HELD: The court held that the giving of a notice to quit by a joint tenant was an indication of that joint tenant’s unwillingness that the tenancy should continue beyond the notice period. It was not a trustee exercising a ‘function’ within the meaning of s. 11, it was just one joint tenant exercising his right to withhold his consent to the tenancy continuing for a further period.  The 1996 Act does not affect the operation of a periodic tenancy or the consequences of giving a notice to quit in such circumstances.

Citation: Notting Hill Housing Trust v Brackley [2001] EWCA Civ 601