Fixtures and fittings

Would window shutters which were fitted during a tenancy then form part of the property freehold once the the tenancy was completed. This is a commerical lease in the UK. The window shutters are affixed internalled by screws and can be removed quite easily.

Also if my landlord or an officier of the landlord prevents me from entering the property by chaining up shutters of jamming locks is this a criminal offence?

[OHlandlord]

The definition of fixtures has been greatly debated. The best way to remember what a fixture is is this: If it’s permanently attached (via screws, nails, glue, etc) to the walls, floors or ceilings, it’s a fixture. Fixtures put in place by the tenant belong to the landlord if the tenant is evicted from the property. So if you affixed the shutters to the property with screws, they are probably fixtures which are now part of the real estate and belong to the property owner. Did you lease allow you to make alterations to the property? Did it require LL permission to make these alterations?

Although I do not do commercial leases, I will attempt to answer this part also. The second issue is the eviction. You would have to check UK laws on this, but the US has few laws governing commercial rentals. There are very few laws to give commercial tenants any rights. There are extensive laws to cover residential tenants and to give them rights that a LL cannot infringe upon or impede. A lockout of a residential tenant would be an illegal eviction. However, the commercial tenant is not covered under these laws, only under commercial rental law (if any). Whatever is listed in the lease is considered the law or rule to go by. It is common in commercial leases to place in a clause which gives the owner right to retake possession of the property immediately if the lease or its terms are violated (a lock-out clause). It is common to lock out a tenant who has failed to make payments. Many leases and property owners also have the right to seize possessions of the commercial business to be sold to pay off the debts of the company. Were either of the clauses in the lease that you signed?

Many thanks- the alterations were made with the landlords permission. Its a long story but we have defaulted on the rent and asked the landlord to terminate the lease- they would not. We asked for the shutters to be considered as part payment of the lease to which whilst the lease was running they refused but now say the shutters are theirs!! The estate agent has always said that they are tenants fittings and may be removed as long as we made good. So, locking us out of the property was not an eviction and no court order or solicitors were involved, they merely wanted to stop us taking our own property and are now wanting delapidations and outstnading rent and to keep the shutters! They have also said that by us trying to remove our shutters during the lease was an illegal act.

I have spoken to a UK solicitor who has said that preventing me access to the property was a criminal offence. All a bit of a nightmare!

[OHlandlord]

Few LLs will terminate a current lease. Once a tenant signs the contract, they are obligated for the entire rent term. Sorry, but I wouldn't terminate it either and give you a free "out" from the obligations. You signed the legal contract and violated it by not meeting your obligations under the contract's terms.

The RE agent can say whatever he/she wants, but they don't necessarily know the law as to defaults on leases. It is only his/her opinion, not fact that they are tenant fittings. Only a court can decide this based on your lease. Does the lease allow you to remove your fittings and fixtures from the unit? Does it require you to return the unit to its original condition upon vacating? If it doesn't, it is my guess that these fixtures will be considered LL property.

But that is not necessarily bad for you. You can then argue that the LL was unjustly enriched by keeping your fixtures and can ask the judge to credit you with the value of the fixtures (the increased value added to his property by your fixtures) which can be subtracted or credited towards the money you owe him.

As I said before, in the US, locking out a defaulted commercial tenant is common. There is usually a clause to this effect in the lease. The contents of the business is sold to repay the LL for the defaulted money. A few years back a tax service here defaulted on their lease and all the tax forms for customers were padlocked inside the business. The tenant could not retrieve them. But the LL, in order not to cause undue hardship on the unsuspecting customers of the tenant, allowed the customers to pick up their own tax paperwork (to take to a new tax preparer). This way the customers were not late in filing their taxes, but unfortunately the tenant still lost all their business. (I thought that was a good solution for the customers anyways. Without access to their tax information, they would have been late filing those and be fined by the IRS.)

Without knowing what is written into your lease and what the exact law is for commercial tenants in the UK (if any), I can't say what is legal or proper there. I can only tell you what is over here. Good luck.