Jayasiriwardene v. Piyaratne – sllr 2004 volume 1 page 037

In the case between Jayasiriwardena (plaintiff-appellant) and Piyarattne (defendant-respondent), the court addressed whether a lease agreement of bare land, which permitted the tenant to construct and subsequently remove temporary structures, constituted a tenancy subject to the Rent Act. It was held that the lease pertained exclusively to bare land; thus, the Rent Act did not apply, even when the tenant had constructed temporary buildings under the lease’s terms. The principle reaffirmed was that the Rent Act is not attracted to leases of bare land where the right to construct temporary structures exists only for the lease’s duration and such structures must be removed upon its termination. In reaching this decision, reliance was placed on the explicit terms of the lease documents P1 and