Colegate v GJB Estates (Unreported) 10 December 2018 County Court at Bournemouth and Poole
Gary Cowen represented the Claimants in this claim under s.12B(5) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 where HHJ Berkley decided that the sale of the freehold interest in the property should not be taken free of an incumbrance, namely a long lease of one of the flats in the block which had, at the time of the relevant disposal, been held with the freehold interest. The lease of the flat was granted by the company which owned the freehold of the block to two of the directors of that company. In the first decision of its kind on s.12B(5) of the 1987 Act, the Judge held that the primary purpose of the 1987 Act was to allow lessees of blocks of flats to acquire the freehold of their blocks and not to permit them to acquire vacant flats. The price to be paid for the freehold interest will be decided by the First Tier Tribunal.
The judgment can be found here
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