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Earl Cadogan v Erkman; Erkman v Earl Cadogan



 

DECISION

Introduction

1.             There are two appeals before the Tribunal, namely an appeal by Earl Cadogan (hereafter called “the Freeholder”) and an appeal by Betul Erkman (hereafter “the Nominee Purchaser”) from the decision of the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal for the London Rent Assessment Panel (“the LVT”) dated 16 March 2007.  By this decision the LVT decided the outstanding matters in dispute regarding the terms of acquisition whereby the Nominee Purchaser was to purchase from the Freeholder the freehold of

42 Cadogan Square
(“No.42”) pursuant to a collective enfranchisement under the provisions of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.  Both the Freeholder and the Nominee Purchaser were dissatisfied with the decision of the LVT and both applied to the LVT for permission to appeal.  Permission was granted to both parties by the LVT without any restriction being placed on the ambit of the appeal in the grant of permission.  The LVT noted that the issues the parties sought to raise were intertwined and that questions of law and valuation arose.  The LVT therefore decided it should “simply grant to each of the Respondent and the Applicant permission to appeal (or cross-appeal) from its above mentioned Determination to the Lands Tribunal”.  The appeals were heard together with the Freeholder being treated as the Appellant and the Nominee Purchaser as the Respondent.  The appeals proceeded by way of a rehearing.

2.             The points in issue between the parties are points which relate to the price to be payable upon the enfranchisement and also as to the form of a restrictive covenant which is to be included in the transfer in respect of the permitted user of the premises. 

in an unimproved state, and he contended for a value of £1,354,800.The Freeholder’s expert (Miss Frances Joyce FRICS, a partner at W A Ellis) referred to various comparables including in particular the sale of the improved ground and lower ground floor flat at the next door building, namely , in February 2003.She argued for a value of £1,710,000.The Tribunal considered that Mr Buchanan’s approach was to be preferred, but after making certain observations and adjustments the LVT concluded that the proper valuation was £1,715,000. the covenant sought manifestly satisfied the statutory conditions, ie the conditions in Schedule 7 paragraph 5. and therefore remote from ) and the lower maisonette at 1 (remote).She now relied upon three comparables, all of which were sales of long leasehold interests in ground floor and basement maisonettes: flat 1 at No.44, flat 1 at No.58 (both on the square) and flat 2 at No.22 (off square).Miss Joyce’s preferred comparable was flat 1 at No.44 because, firstly, it adjoined the subject property and so enjoyed an almost identical location; secondly, it was of almost identical size and layout; and, thirdly, it required only a single adjustment (for improvements). wishing to see the quality of tenants and the ambience of the area maintained by the requirement that individual units of accommodation remained in single family occupation.She accepted that market forces and price levels made it improbable that there would be flat sharing by young professionals as happens in other less valuable parts of London, but she contended that the ability to prevent sharing of occupation was something which a landlord could reasonably wish to see preserved in a freehold transfer.She pointed out that if sharing of occupation was permitted then this could lead to a higher density of use which would not be advantageous in terms of preserving the quality of the area by reason of potential noise, number of cars, movements within the square, etc.In paragraph 8.6 of her proof of evidence she stated: and his conclusion, based thereon, that the value of sales of improved flats gave no reliable indication as to the value of unimproved flats, Mr Munro advanced the following arguments.He pointed out that as regards the material relied upon by Mr Buchanan by way of his three “matched pairs” of transactions (ie a sale or disposal unimproved and then a later sale improved of the same property) there was a problem regarding the matched pair at 44 Cadogan Square because the first transaction was a settlement and not a market transaction.That left merely two pairs, namely the sale unimproved and improved of the flats at 21 and .However he submitted that two pairs of transactions were not enough to give guidance as to the sort of deduction to make from the value obtained on a flat which had been improved to the highest standards when seeking to value a flat that was unimproved.He submitted that Mr Buchanan’s material and arguments were not sufficient to negate Miss Joyce’s methodology or judgment in obtaining the value of the virtual freehold unimproved of the GLG Flat by reference to the sale of the mirror image ground and lower ground floor flat at the next door building (No.44) in its improved state. .Mr Munro submitted that there was always a potential difficulty and weakness in relying in effect upon one comparable.He submitted that the Tribunal was not obliged to approach the matter on an either/or basis and to accept in full either Mr Buchanan’s analysis or Miss Joyce’s analysis. – ie effectively the whole of except for those buildings which have already been enfranchised.Mr Munro also drew attention to the fact that the LVT had upheld the Freeholder’s arguments on this point and had ordered the inclusion of the covenant as sought by the Freeholder – the burden was on the Nominee Purchaser to show that the LVT was wrong in its conclusion, see [2003] Lands Tribunal LRA/2/2002 (unreported) at paragraph 172. . (unimproved) in the case of Mr Buchanan and (improved) in the case of Miss Joyce.He submitted the two sales were only 10 months apart so that the argument that the comparable at No.58 was too old a transaction was unsound, especially bearing in mind that the adjustment required over the relevant period was a very modest one because the market was flat. were, he submitted, modest and mostly uncontroversial (now that Mr Buchanan had corrected for the allowance he had not previously fully made for outside space). .We reach this conclusion despite there being only broad evidence on the topic from Miss Joyce rather than a fully worked valuation. . . where the parties were the Freeholder (ie Earl Cadogan) and a nominee purchaser which, putting it broadly, is within the Erkman family interests. The advocates representing the parties in that case were the same as in the present case.A point arose in relation to No.23 as to how the nominee purchaser in that case could preserve its position against the possibility that the Supreme Court might grant permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision in (see paragraph 3(2) above).One of the matters dealt with in argument in relation to No.23 was whether the Tribunal could (and if it could whether it should) order the inclusion as part of the terms of acquisition of some form of clause which, putting it broadly, would provide that if the decision was reversed then the parties would agree (or the Tribunal would decide) how much less the purchase price would have been if calculated on the basis of the Supreme Court’s decision rather than the Court of Appeal’s decision in the case – and the clause would then provide for the repayment by the Freeholder to the nominee purchaser of the difference between the price paid and the price that would have been payable on that basis.In the present case Mr Jourdan also asked that the Tribunal should consider ordering the inclusion as part of the terms of acquisition of a clause to this effect.The parties adopted in the present case the arguments they had presented in relation to .We have given our decision in relation to in [2011] UKUT 68 (LC).We do not repeat what we there said, but we merely state that for the reasons given in that case we do not order the inclusion of any such clause into the terms of acquisition.

APPENDIX 1


STATEMENT OF FACTS RELATING TO THE CLAIM

FOR COLLECTIVE ENFRANCHISEMENT OF

SW1 was dated 29 November 2005, but was received on 30 November.It was served on Cadogan Estates Limited and The Right Honourable William Gerald Charles Earl Cadogan by the participating tenants on behalf of the Nominee Purchaser, Betul Erkman. is vested in Earl Cadogan. is vested in Betul Erkman, by way of a lease dated 9 March 1961, for a term of 64 years from 25 March 1959, and thus expiring 25 March 2023.Paying the yearly rent of £100 per annum on the usual quarter days.The original demise included 40 Clabon Mews, which is a mews house to the rear of the building.The freehold of the No.40 was sold on 31 January 1984 and pursuant to a claim under the 1967 Act, whereupon the head rent payable was reduced from £100 per annum to £70 per annum. to the north and west, to the east and and the to the south.There are London Transport Underground stations at Knightsbridge and and bus routes in , , , Knightsbridge and .There is a taxi rank in .There are NCP car parks in to the east and to the north. is a converted terraced town house built on basement, ground and four upper floors.It is situated on the west side of .The accommodation comprises a caretaker’s flat in part of the basement and five private dwellings.A passenger lift serves the basement to fourth floor. .These alterations are described in the Licence as the installation of external burglar bars to basement windows to front lightwell. .These alterations are described in the Licence as in the:

APPENDIX 2

 

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