R (on the application of Dewa) v Marylebone Magistrates’ Court

Residential tenancy — Payment of rent — Whether landlord obliged to provide rent book — Whether tenancy a weekly tenancy — Correct approach to characterising tenancy — Sections 4(1) and 7(1) of Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 — Claim allowed The claimant tenant of a residential property laid an information against his landlord for failure to provide him with a rent book. Under section 4(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords were required to do so where a tenant had the right to occupy premises as a residence “in consideration of a rent payable weekly”. Section 7(1) of the 1985 Act made a failure to comply into a summary offence. The landlord made a submission of no case to answer. The district judge had before her a 1973 rent book which stated on its cover that rent was payable weekly. However, a 1992 rent book showed that rent had, in fact, been paid fortnightly. The judge held that the claimant had failed to prove that the tenancy was a weekly one. The claimant sought judicial review of the judge’s decision. Held: The claim was allowed. A distinction had to be drawn between the basis upon which rent was calculated and the periods at which that rent would, in fact, fall to be payable. A difference could also arise between the periods at which the rent became payable as a matter of obligation, and the periods at which it was actually paid. A rent book might provide evidence of the terms upon which a tenant held the property. The judge erred in concentrating on the question of the interval at which the rent had, in fact, been paid, rather than the interval at which it was payable: R v Ewing (1967) 65 Cr App R considered. The case would be remitted to the judge for rehearing. The claimant appeared in person; the defendant did not appear and was not represented. Sally Dobson, barrister