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
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