Permission to appeal from the Supreme Court in the case of S Franses Ltd v The Cavendish Hotel (London) Ltd

Joanne Wicks QC and Benjamin Faulkner have secured permission to appeal from the Supreme Court in the case of S Franses Ltd v The Cavendish Hotel (London) Ltd.

The case raises the issue whether a landlord can prevent the grant of a new tenancy to its protected business tenant by devising an artificial scheme of works to the premises, solely for the purpose of satisfying s.30(1)(f) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (the redevelopment ground).

In the County Court and Queen’s Bench Division the Courts held in favour of the landlord on this point, but Joanne was granted a certificate for a leapfrog appeal to the Supreme Court, bypassing the Court of Appeal, by Jay J in July and, with permission to appeal now having been granted by the Supreme Court, all is set for a battle on this significant issue, which is potentially of importance to thousands of business tenants and their landlords across England and Wales.