Mr. Bruton occupied a flat by virtue of a written agreement with the Quadrant Housing Trust. The agreement specifically categorised itself as a “weekly licence” although it did give exclusive possession to Bruton. For its part, the Trust held the flat as licensee from the freehold owner, Lambeth Council, in order to pursue its charitable housing aims of providing temporary and emergency accommodation. By virtue of section 32 of the Housing Act 1985, any grant of a lease by the Council to the Trust would have been ultra vires. Bruton accepted the “licence” from the Trust on this basis, but now alleged that he held the flat on a lease, giving security of tenure and triggering a repairing obligation for the Trust under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (implied repairing obligations for short term leases). The High Court had held that the agreement was a licence and this was confirmed by the Court of Appeal, with Millett L.J. noting that it was difficult to see how Bruton could have a lease when the Trust itself held no estate in the land out of which a lease could have been granted: [1998] Q.B. 834, 845. The House of Lords, unanimously, held that Bruton had a lease on a simple application of Street v. Mountford [1985] A.C. 809. The fact that the Trust held no estate in the land was neither here nor there: Bruton v. London & Quadrant Housing Trust [1999] 3 W.L.R. 150.