A lawsuit for waste can be brought against a life tenant or lessee of a leasehold estate, either by a current landlord or by the owner of a vested future interest.
Under English common law, when ameliorative waste occurs, the interested party can recover from the tenant the cost of restoring the land to its original condition.
Instead, A decides that the land would be more valuable as a nightclub and draws up a business plan to transform the old estate into a new late night hotspot.
Even if the club is set to make money and the old family house is a valueless wreck in terrible condition, B still has a right to stop A from improving the property.
The court held that the neighboring properties had sufficiently changed the nature of the area and allowed the estate holder to convert the land despite the existence of potential ameliorative waste.
For example, a mansion may not be stripped of its glass, timber or pipes (Vane v Lord barnard), nor may trees of an ornamental value be cut down by the life tenant (Turner v Wright).
There, a person found to have committed voluntary waste without the written permission of the holder of the future interest is forced to pay treble damages.