Delivering the lead judgement in the seminal case of Street v Mountford, we believe that Lord Templeton’s speech and subsequent case law have to a very great extent clarified the distinction between license and lease.
In his speech, Lord Templeton set out the principles to determine when a lease had been granted, and found that exclusive possession was the conclusive factor. This remains true to date, and its absence is the defining feature of a license. We run through the other case law which established the key requirements of a lease. Essentially, if it looks, walks and talks like a tenant, it can't be a lodger.