Lease extensions in the care sector

There are significant numbers of care home residents who hold leases which give them far greater rights than care home operators realise. Tom Lumsden, a partner at CooperBurnett LLP, looks at lease extensions in the care sector

Many care home owners may be wondering why lease extensions are relevant to their business, given that residents usually occupy under the terms of a personal care contract, and are effectively given a licence to occupy. This is a contractual right to use and occupy, rather than any interest in the property itself (the difference being that a lease or tenancy creates a legal interest in the ‘bricks and mortar’ of the resident’s home, a care contract does not).

There are significant numbers of care home residents who hold leases and other forms of tenancies, particularly in the context of sheltered housing. It is important that care home operators are aware of not only their own rights and remedies, but also those of the residents. Those rights may be far greater than care home operators realise.