A commercial tenant failed to exercise a break clause correctly because it was still carrying out repairs to the leased premises after the day it should have given up vacant possession. The case involved a company that had two break options on a warehouse that it leased. The first date was for April 2009 and
A corporate landlord has been left with a bill of £270,000 after failing to consult properly with tenants. The case involved five leaseholders at a block of flats which required major renovation. The landlord was entitled to recover most of the cost through service charges as long as there was full consultation with the tenants.
A company must repay £200,000 after failing to carry out work to a high enough standard on a property it was selling. The company had entered into a contract with a buyer which required that a number of renovation and conversion works should be carried out before completion. The buyer paid a £100,000 deposit followed
The Competition Appeal Tribunal has ruled that penalties imposed on construction firms for using cover pricing were too harsh and should be reduced. The Tribunal said it was important to make a distinction between simple cover pricing and bid rigging, which is much more serious. Bid rigging involved firms joining forces as a cartel in
A property management company effectively validated a break clause notice by accepting it as an email – even though the lease required more formal notification. The case involved a tenant who leased commercial premises for a term of ten years starting on 1st March 2005. The break clause allowed for termination of the lease after
The number of companies going out of business in England and Wales fell dramatically last year, according to figures from the Insolvency Service A total of 4,905 businesses went into receivership or administration, or entered into company voluntary arrangements in 2010. That was a fall of 23% on 2009, which was the record year for
Great care is needed when drawing up restrictive covenants; if they are not tight enough they may not be effective, but if they are too restrictive the courts may not enforce them. A recent case gives a good insight into how the courts may view certain anti-competition clauses. It involved an estate agency and one
Buying and selling businesses can be fraught with difficulties as highlighted in a recent case before the High Court. It involved a company that wanted to sell one of its subsidiaries. A Chief Operation Officer was appointed to oversee the sale and a purchaser was found. The officer prepared an information memorandum which described the
The High Court has ruled that a limited liability partnership had no right to expel one of its partners because there was no binding agreement giving it the necessary powers. The case involved a recruitment agency in which the three members had marketed themselves as partners since 2004. They then started to consider becoming a
The recession has sparked a surge in the number of disputes between landlords and business tenants, according to new research. Figures compiled by the legal publishers Sweet & Maxwell show a 43% increase in disputes in the High Court in London involving landlords and tenants of commercial property. The numbers rose from 28 in 2008