Earlier this month the High Court handed down its judgment in the case of TFS Stores Limited v The Designer Retail Outlet Centres (Mansfield) General Partner Limited and others which considered whether a number of leases had been validly contracted out of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. Background to the case TFS Stores Limited trades as The Fragrance Shop at a large number of locations across the UK. This case concerns just six of…

The Supreme Court has decided that a rateable value of £370,000 should be entered into the ratings list for an office block in Blackpool despite there being “no actual tenant willing to pay a positive price for the building itself“. Ascertaining rateable value In order to work out what the rateable value of a property is, a valuation officer will need to work out what the open market rent would be for the property, by…

Hogan Lovells recently represented the landlords in SHB Realisations Limited and GB Europe Management Services Limited v Cribbs Mall Nominee (1) Limited and Cribbs Mall Nominee (2) Limited, a case confirming that it is possible in certain circumstances to forfeit a long lease granted for a substantial premium. Forfeiture Leases invariably include a right for landlords to bring a lease to an end before lease expiry if a tenant is in breach (known as a…

Earlier this year, we blogged on the High Court decision of Mears Limited v Costplan Services. This case concerned whether an agreement for lease for the development of two blocks of student accommodation could be terminated by the intended tenant, Mears, because a number of rooms had been built outside the agreed size tolerances. The agreement for lease (“AFL”) stated that the landlord, Plymouth, could not vary the development so as to materially affect the…

London Real Estate Associate Ben Willis discusses the key practical points you need to know about Brexit and contractual termination and force majeure provisions following the High Court’s judgment in the closely watched case of Canary Wharf (BP4) T1 Limited and others v European Medicines Agency, which found that the European Medicines Agency remains bound by the terms of its lease of its London offices, notwithstanding Brexit.  The EMA has appealed. Listen to our podcast…

Answer: Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones (or complain about prying neighbours) The recent case of Fearn & Others v The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery [2019], concerned a dispute between the Tate Modern and its residential neighbours over the Tate’s public viewing platform. The case makes clear that an invasion of privacy can (although not in this case) amount to an actionable legal nuisance. The dispute In central…