AI117U Rent, Tenant Ownership and Leasehold Law

General real-estate law or the equivalent knowledge through practical experience

The course starts with an overview of different kinds of user rights to real estate as well as the distinguishing features of such rights, both with regard to the relation between the holder of the user right and the owner of the real estate and in relation to a new owner of the real property. Thereafter, the central issues with respect to rent, tenant-ownership and leasehold are dealt with in more detail, for example lease, right to prolongation of the contract, maintenance and the possibility to transfer or sublet the user right. The relevant legislation is primarily found in the Land Code and the Tenant-Ownerhip Act, but also in the Rent Negotiation Act, the Act on Leasehold and Rent Tribunals and the Act on Right to Acquire Real Property for Conversion to Tenant-Ownership or Cooperative Tenancy.

The use of real estate units is of central importance in the area of the built environment. This applies both to planning and development as well as to management of real estate units. To a large extent, user rights are granted in real estate units, for example as dwellings in apartment blocks or commercial rent in a shopping mall. Other examples are a tenant-owners who have tenant-ownership rights to their apartments, agricultural leaseholders who have user rights to agricultural land and house owners who have ground leases to land. One distinguishing feature of these kinds of user rights is that they usually apply for a long period of time and that they give rise to rights and obligations for both the real estate owner and the holder of the user right. From the view point of the real estate owner the main interest is often to receive as large a return as possible from the real estate, whereas the holder of the user right often strives for security of possession on reasonable terms. The legislation on user rights and the balancing between the interests of the real estate owner and the holder of the user right give rise to both economic and ethical issues. From a social perspective there are also environmental and sustainability issues.

The general aim of the course is to give advanced knowledge of the legal regulation of contractual user rights to real estate, in particular rent, tenant-ownership and leasehold, in order for the student to be able to apply this knowledge to identify and solve practical problems in the area of the built environment. After having taken the course the student shall be able to:

• Explain the structure of and central concepts in the legal regulation of user rights, the main issues that are regulated and the content and consequences of the regulation.

• To apply the regulation when solving practical problems with the use of relevant legal methods, as well as more complex practical problems concerning rent, tenant-ownership and leasehold.

• To analyse, justify and critically question the applicability of the regulation to practical problems.