Booker v Palmer [1942] 2 All ER 674  Court of Appeal

The owner of a cottage allowed an evacuee to stay in his cottage rent free following a request from a friend. The evacuee’s home had been bombed.

Held:

There was no intention to create legal relations and thus the evacuee was a mere licensee.

Lord Greene MR:

"To suggest there is an intention there to create a relationship of landlord and tenant appears to me to be quite impossible. There is one golden rule which is of very general application, namely, that the law does not impute intention to enter into legal relationships where the circumstances and the conduct of the parties negative any intention of the kind. It seems to me that this is a clear example of the application of that rule."

Back to lecture outline on requirements of a lease in Land Law