Stephane’s friends, Todd and Sandra, have a young child and were evicted from their council flat as the council needed to demolish the building. As Stephane felt sorry for Todd and Sandra, she said that they could live in one of her houses (5 Cotton Village, a two bedroomed house) for 12 months. Stephane told Todd and Sandra that she “would not charge them rent provided they visited each week to clean her house and look after her garden.” Todd and Sandra moved into the house three months ago and have recently complained to Stephane about a number of issues including that the boiler does not always work, a number of the windows fail to open and that damp is now appearing on the walls of the bedrooms, with some of the plaster falling off as a result. Todd and Sandra checked the document that they signed at Stephane’s request before moving in and notice that it refers throughout to them having a ‘licence’.
Address the following issues (we would advise that you use no more than 1700 words on this section). Please explain your reasoning including reference to statutory material and case law where relevant:
- Is the agreement between Stephane and Todd and Sandra a lease or a licence?
- Assuming it is a lease, is Stephane under an obligation to deal with all or any of the following issues:
- the boiler,
- the windows, and/or
- the damaged plasterwork.
- Todd and Sandra are worried that Stephane is going to throw them out of the house. Assuming it is a lease, advise Todd and Sandra on whether Stephane can evict them at short notice.
