Description

The lease is a unique creature in common law, with contractual as well as real property elements. Thus, it was called a ‘chattel real’. English law has consistently focussed on its ‘real property’ element i.e. that it is an interest in land.  Rent therefore continues to be payable even though the premises have been destroyed or are somehow rendered inaccessible, as the interest in land still remains. Thus, there are considerable difficulties in applying contractual principles such as frustration, and repudiation, to a lease. This seminar will discuss the challenges in applying the doctrine of frustration to a lease, and the recent cases where the doctrine was invoked in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will also examine the recent government interventions on leases in Singapore, followed by a question and answer segment.