Ansa Logistics Ltd –v- Trowberg Ltd (2012) highlights the legal and commercial difficulties a landlord must overcome when seeking to recover possession of premises based on the ground the tenant had parted with possession. Kristine Ng from our Property Disputes Team looks at this in more detail.
The Decision:
The Court held that the tenant, Ansa Logistics, had not breached
the covenant against parting with possession. Parting with
possession had to be complete and the test is whether the person in
occupation had a right to exclude all others from the premises,
including the tenant under the lease. In this case, the
tenant was not excluded from the site by the occupier, Ford.
Even if Ansa had parted with possession, it would not have been a
reasonable basis for the landlord to refuse consent to
sub-let. The breach was not serious and was not prejudicial
to the landlord. The breach could have been remedied by the
landlord granting consent to sub-let. As such, the Court
would have granted relief from forfeiture.
Summary of Facts:
Ansa Logistics was the tenant of a large area of land in
Liverpool and had since 1999 held a contract with Ford for the
storage and transportation of Ford motor vehicles at this
site. In 2007, Ford gave notice that it would be terminating
the contact and negotiated heads of terms which would include Ansa
Logistics granting a sub-lease (subject to landlord's consent)
to allow Ford to take over the operations at the site.
In April 2011 the landlord, Trowberg, submitted a planning
permission application to redevelop part of the site as a leisure
park. Ford's planning advisers submitted an objection on
the ground that Ford had an interest in the site as they operated
logistics, storage and distribution facilities from the site.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
