13th March 2020
Philip Rainey QC and Carl Fain acted for the successful Respondent in LM Homes Ltd & Oths v Queen Court Freehold Company Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 371. This was a second appeal from the Upper Tribunal decision of the Deputy President.
The case concerns the entitlement to a nominee purchaser to acquire a lease of airspace, a lease of subsoil and a lease of a boiler room pursuant to s.2(3) of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.
The Court of Appeal (Lewison LJ, Lindblom LJ and Leggatt LJ) upheld the Upper Tribunal’s decision and in particular held:
This case is likely to have a significant impact on the practice of freeholders who seek to preserve development value grant leases of airspace to associated companies prior to a collective enfranchisement.
A copy of the judgment can be found here.