A fresh look at S.54(2)

Examines the operation of the provisions of the Law of Property Act 1925 s.54(2) containing an exception to the rule that a deed is required in order to create a valid legal lease and conferring full legal status to short-term letting agreements created by parol, focusing on the requirements that the lease must take effect in possession and must be at the best rent reasonably obtainable without fine. Calls for the former of these two requirements to be amended and the latter abolished on the ground that they give rise to unnecessary complexity in the law and, in the case of the latter, uncertainty.