Willing to be shot down here but I think a “tenancy for life” would be deemed by a court to be for 90 years as a matter of standard practice, so the length of time that the tenant will actually live for is irrelevant. That said, there was a Commissioner’s Decision a little while ago that cast doubt over the whole “long lease” issue as, under property law, any lease/tenancy over 7 years must be registered by deed with the Land Registry. If it’s not, then it can’t be a long lease and it’s likely to be deemed a periodic tenancy by a court.
With respect, I would be very careful about relying on the difference between the rent and the landlord’s mortgage liability. Low rents don’t automatically equal non-commerciality. If the landlord can demonstrate that he doesn’t need to charge more than he is it will be hard to prove that it’s not commercial.
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