Client is a boarder with a formal license agreement. He rents a room from a land-lady who herself rents the house from its owner, and gets part HB. The LA have refused HB for the boarder because his land-lady's tenancy agreement with the owner states that she is "not to assign or sub-let the property and not to part with possession of the property in any other way". Presumably the LA are saying that the boarder does not have a rent liability because his license agreement breaks the terms of his land-lady's tenancy agreement, and is therefore not enforceable. Any comments guys?

My client's land-lady says that she got verbal permission from the owner's agent before she took in the lodger, whether they would confirm this in writing remains to be seen.

Have a look at Bruton v Quadrant Housing Trust. Although this case is distinguished it affirms certain legal principles. In this case Quadrant Housing leased properties from Lambeth Council on contractual licences. As Quadrant did not, therefore, have a proprietary interest in land it could not grant Mr Bruton one. So they granted him a licence.

Despite that, the HL (following Street v Mountford) found that, as a fact, as Mr Bruton had exclusive possession for rent payable at a term certain, he was a tenant and could, therefore, invoke the landlord’s repairing obligations under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

Thus Mr Bruton derived a legal right against his landlord that did not derive, nor did it have to derive, from the superior landlord.

I have certainly always understood this to be the case (and it must happen all the time).