Close Invoice Finance v Dartmouth Court Blackheath Limited v Berisworth Limited [2008] EWHC 350 (Ch) (Warren J), [2008] 2 P & CR 36

Landlord & Tenant - Pre-emption Rights 

Gary Lidington acted for the Defendant in a trial of a claim brought in respect of a tenant's pre-emption rights under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. The Claimant was represented by the leading practitioner in this area, Anthony Radevsky of Falcon Chambers, who co-authors the principal text. The claim involved fundamental and unresolved points of construction of the 1987 Act. The Claimant challenged two transfers of property made to the Defendant. The Claimant was successful in respect of one point, namely the method by which the qualifying premises under the Act is to be identified. However the Defendant successfully resisted the claim in respect of the other transfer on the grounds that the property, subject to the transfer, was not ‘appurtenant' property to the building that was the subject to the claim. This is one of the leading cases under the 1987 Act in recent years.