Security of tenure for business tenants in England and Wales can
make it costly and time consuming for landlords to recover
possession for redevelopment.
Is it possible for a tenant to defeat the landlord's right
to possession by making a summary application to Court before the
landlord is ready to redevelop?
A recent English case – Somerfield v Spring
– covered this point.
The background facts are that a lease held by Somerfield has
expired. They are holding over and seeking a new lease.
However the landlord opposes the grant of a new lease, claiming
that it intends to redevelop.
This case has already been before the Courts once before, in June
2009. The landlord had entered administration and –
hoping to buy time to work up a redevelopment scheme –
the landlord's administrators refused to allow the tenant's
lease renewal claim to continue in the normal way. Somerfield felt
this would prejudice their claim for a new lease and successfully
applied to Court
