RG Airspace Developments Ltd v Bennets Courtyard Freehold Ltd
On 21 February 2023, at Central London County Court, His Honour Judge Saggerson ordered the replacement of the reversioner in what was (as far as the author is aware) the first contested case under Paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. The lessees in a block of flats had acquired the freehold under the Act in 2022, but had chosen not to acquire a lease of the roof space because they wished to avoid an argument over development value. A group of them then decided to make a fresh collective claim, solely to acquire the roof space lease, which they thought was of low value: their s. 13 notice offered only £1,000 for it.
The reversioner was the freeholder i.e. the nominee purchaser under the earlier claim. The holder of the roof space lease asked the reversioner to consent to it being appointed in its place, on the ground that the lease was valuable. The reversioner refused. The lessee obtained an interim injunction to restrain the reversioner from serving a counter-notice, pending its claim for an order under Paragraph 3.At the expedited trial, the lessee put in evidence of a professional valuation of the lease of £1,500,000 and said it had received three offers of over £1,000,000 for it.The Judge held the respective interests of the relevant landlords, and other special circumstances required the lessee to be substituted as reversioner. The special circumstances included the conflict of interest in the tenant controlled freeholder serving a counter-notice on behalf of the roof space lessee.
Anthony Radevsky acted for the successful claimant, instructed by Simon Serota of Wallace LLP.
You can read the transcript of the judgment here.
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