Court resolves dispute between former partners over sale of flats

The High Court has resolved a dispute between former partners over the sale of a block of flats worth between £3m and £4m.

The case involved three partners whose relationship broke down in 2014. The partnership’s main asset was a large apartment block comprising of just over 100 leasehold flats.

An independent valuation indicated a market value of £3.255 million. However, the price could be less than £3m on a forced sale and over £4m if the units were sold separately or in tranches over a period of 52 months.

An offer had been received of £3.5m.

The claimant partner in the case was heavily in debt and was facing bankruptcy. She wanted to accept the £3.5m offer.

The two defendant partners felt that the offer was too low and that a better price could be obtained by waiting and/or selling the individual units.

The court found in favour of the claimant partner. It held that it was significant that the claimant was at risk to the bank because of her debts. It could be said that she had put herself in that position, but if nothing was done it was likely that the bank would step in and force a sale to the disadvantage of all the partners.

It was also significant that two years had passed since the dissolution of the partnership and so the court was reluctant to sanction anything that would lead to further delay.

Please contact Sing Li about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of partnership disputes, contracts and company law.