“Lease terms must be certain in duration to create valid leases.”
The Court of Appeal held that the agreement did not create a valid lease due to uncertainty of term. It created only a periodic tenancy determinable by either party.
The parties entered into an agreement for a lease of premises 'for the duration of the war' at a weekly rent. When disputes arose about the tenancy, the question was whether this created a valid lease given the uncertain duration.
Whether a lease granted 'for the duration of the war' could constitute a valid lease given the uncertainty of the maximum duration.
The court established that one of the essential characteristics of a lease is certainty of maximum duration. Both the commencement and the maximum duration must be certain or capable of being made certain. A term dependent on an uncertain future event (end of war) cannot satisfy this requirement. The arrangement could only take effect as a periodic tenancy.
This case established a fundamental principle of lease validity that remains central to landlord and tenant law. The certainty requirement affects lease drafting and interpretation, and the principle has been applied in numerous subsequent cases involving uncertain terms. The rule was affirmed by the House of Lords in Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v London Residuary Body [1992] 2 AC 386, but is now qualified by Berrisford v Mexfield Housing Co-operative Ltd [2011] UKSC 52: a tenancy granted to an individual for an uncertain term takes effect as a tenancy for life, converted into a 90-year term by section 149(6) of the Law of Property Act 1925.
The ratio is that for a valid lease, the maximum duration must be certain or capable of being made certain from the outset - uncertain terms cannot create valid leases.
The court decided that a lease 'for the duration of the war' was invalid due to uncertain duration and could only create a periodic tenancy determinable by either party.
It established the fundamental requirement that lease terms must be certain, which remains essential for lease validity and affects how tenancy agreements are drafted and interpreted.
The court noted that while the war would certainly end at some point, the exact date was uncertain, which was sufficient to invalidate the lease term.
OSCOLA Citation
Lace v Chantler [1944] KB 368
Multiple official and mirror sources — pick whichever loads cleanly on your network.
[2026] UKUT LC 96
Common Room
0 comments · About the Common Room →
No comments yet — start the discussion.
Voted-best comments help future students and feed Caselaw's AI study tools.