A tenant intended to exercise a break option contained in its Thames Valley office lease but incorrectly served the notice on a previous landlord. The notice was then kindly forwarded to the current landlord’s managing agents who then emailed the tenant accepting the notice but also asking that a fresh notice be served on the correct landlord. This didn’t happen and the landlord subsequently argued that the break option notice was invalid and that the lease should continue.

So, who was wrong?…………….

Well, even though both sides agreed that the tenant had failed to serve a valid notice, the courts held that the managing agents acceptance of the defective notice subsequently bound the landlord and therefore validating the break option notice.

An expensive mistake for the managing agent!

At RPS we know that Lease Break Options are one of the most contentious issues in property litigation. We always carefully consider our proposed actions and responses to protect our clients position. Our role to is protect and advise you of the options available and to proceed accordingly.