It is a well-established principle that building works carried
out by a landlord pursuant to its covenant to repair must be
balanced with a tenant's right to quiet enjoyment, it is
therefore not surprising that the High Court recently found in
Timothy Taylor Ltd v Mayfair House Corporation & Another
[2016] EWHC 1075 (Ch) that this principle extends to
development works carried out around an existing tenant. What is
more surprising is that the Court ordered a 20% rent reduction by
way of damages after finding that the landlord had acted
unreasonably in exercising its right to carry out development
works.
Facts
In 2007, the tenant was granted a 20 year lease of the basement
and ground floor premises in a five storey in Mayfair at a rent of
over GBP 500,000, from which it operated a high class art gallery.
Under the terms of the lease, the landlord had an express right to
carry out development works to the building and erect scaffolding
for that purpose.
