Enviromental issues in landlord and tenant lease transactions—England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Produced in partnership with ELM Law

Practice notes

Enviromental issues in landlord and tenant lease transactions—England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Produced in partnership with ELM Law

Practice notes

Who takes responsibility for contaminated land liabilities?

If historic land contamination is a concern or the tenant’s activities involve polluting activities, the parties will need to consider who takes responsibility in the lease for potential contaminated land liabilities.

Standard clauses in leases

If a lease is silent on environmental issues, there are a number of non-environmental clauses that could potentially have environmental liability implications. The table below highlights some of the common lease clauses to look out for.

Lease provision	Implications
Extent of the demise	Check if the definition of ‘premises’ includes land (including surface water and groundwater), above ground storage tanks, underground storage tanks and pipes.
Covenant to comply with statutory obligations	If the landlord or tenant is served with a statutory notice or is asked by a regulator to carry out works (eg the landlord is threatened with a remediation notice or works notice), the landlord can use this covenant to contractually pass the costs onto the tenant, even where the tenant has not caused the pollution

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Contaminated land definition

What does Contaminated land mean?

Any land in such a condition that significant harm is being caused or there is a significant possibility of such harm being caused.

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