ABSTRACT
Lying between the right of the Landlord to preserve his property and the tenant’s right to improve his leased property to suit his purposes is the economic effect of the law of fixtures/improvements on landlord-tenant relationships. Oftentimes, tenants attach necessary fixtures and make useful improvements that enhance the rental values of the properties leased to them. But the questions that usually arise therefrom are: Is a tenant entitled to take away such fixtures at the expiration of the tenancy contrary to the common law rule of quic quid plantatur solo solo cedit, or are there obligations imposed on him instead? Is the tenant entitled to compensation for such improvements from the landlord and where he is; are there restrictions to his right of compensation? This paper aimed at examining these legal issues surrounding the tenant’s rights to affix and remove fixtures, and/or to compensation at the expiration of his lease in Nigeria as well as in other selected jurisdictions. Based on a doctrinal perspective, the article came to the finding, among other things, that a tenant who executes improvements on a leased property without the landlord’s prior consent may still be entitled to compensation from the landlord if the equitable principle of unjust enrichment and restitution is brought to bear. Finally, it recommended that the legislature should statutorily entrench the equitable principles of unjust enrichment and restitution, and the judiciary should apply it in all deserving cases where the tenant has expended a huge sum of money in improving the landlord’s property.
Vivian Chinelo Arinze and Promise Green, Examining the Law of Tenant’s Fixtures, Compensation for Improvements and the Modus of Quic Quid Plantatur Solo Solo Cedit (2022) 6 African Journal of Law and Human Rights (1).
First posted 2022-06-30 18:15:02
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