SECRET
10.
so-called sub-lessee an estate as great as
or purporting to be greater than, his own)
he from that moment is a stranger to the
land, in the sense that the relationship of
landlord and tenant, in respect of tenure,
cannot any longer exist between him and the
so-called sub-lessee. That relationship
must depend on privity of estate.
I myself
find it impossible to conceive of a relation-
ship of landlord and tenant which has not got
that essential element of tenure in it, and
that implies that the tenant holds of his
landlord, and he can only do that if the
landlord has a reversion. You cannot have
a purely contractual tenure.
Tenure
exists by reason of privity of estate".
The consequences of such a purported under lease
operating as an assignment are patently unacceptable.
In order that the lease covenants may be enforced by the
Crown, it is essential that the landlord/tenant relationship
continues. The sanction of re-entry is vital to the Crown
interest. Any course of action which might have the effect
of making the Crown a stranger to New Territories land is
unthinkable.
11.
It follows that the purely contractual consequences
between the parties are not really significant. The
objection is fundamental.
SECRET
-3-
/12.