Summary
Prior to 6 April 2011, land agreements were largely excluded
from the application of the UK's competition rules. However, in
November 2018, the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets
Authority (CMA) published a non-confidential version of its
infringement decision to use its competition enforcement powers for
the first time in relation to a land agreement restriction.
In particular, the CMA found that an airport operator's
commercial agreement in relation to the lease of a hotel included a
clause restricting how parking prices should be set by the hotel
operator for non-hotel guests. The CMA considered that the pricing
restriction prevented the hotel operator from charging non-hotel
guests cheaper prices than those offered at other car parks at the
airport and that as a result, the relevant commercial provision
infringed the Chapter I prohibition in the UK's Competition Act
1998 (Act).1 The CMA's full decision can be
found here. This decision is important
