A High Court judge has advised the owner-developers of a pair of adjacent multi-million-pound Knightsbridge mansions to “love thy neighbour” after a dispute over access to a driveway led to a long, complicated and expensive court case that could have been avoided with “only a modicum of goodwill.”
The dispute is between the owners of Amberwood House and Thurlowe Lodge, two properties opposite the Victoria & Albert Museum in Knightsbridge, SW7. Both properties are currently uninhabited and undergoing extensive renovation and rebuilding works.
Amberwood, which was recently featured on the Channel 4 show Britain’s Most Expensive Homes, used to be the home of ballerina Dame Margot Fontaine.
According to the ruling, the north wall of Amberwood is in need of extensive re-rendering. The wall is on the boundary of the land and can only be accessed from a narrow passageway in between the two buildings, which is owned (via a separate company) by the owner of Thurlow Lodge.
According to the ruling, the owners of both properties were previously co-operative but fell out in 2019. As a result, the owner of Thurlow Lodge has refused Amberwood access to the passageway.
The owner of Amberwood litigated the case in the County Court under the Access to Neighbouring Land Act of 1992, which governs such disputes.
The case found its way to the High Court. There was a three-day trial last month, and yesterday the judge, Nicholas Thompsell, ruled that the owner of Thurlow Lodge must grant access for the work to be carried out, saying that the proposed works were “reasonable” and “necessary.”
He also ruled that the owner of Amberwood should pay any costs incurred by Thurlow Lodge’s owner as a result of the works.
Giving judgment, Deputy Judge Thompsell said that, not only was this the first time a case relating to the Act had reached the High Court, counsel were only able to point to one County Court decision.
“The fact that it has not been necessary to bring this matter to the High Court before is a testament to the sound principles on which the Act has been drafted, and perhaps also to the common sense and neighbourliness of most landowners in England and Wales [the jurisdictions where the Act applies],” he said.
“It may be hoped that this common sense and neighbourliness will continue for another 30 years, in which case this judgment may remain the sole authority on the Act for some time.
“If this case has proven anything, it has proven that the Biblical precept to ‘love thy neighbour’ is one that owners of neighbouring properties would do well to abide by. The current action has involved great effort and cost to both parties in order to produce an outcome that, with only a modicum of goodwill, they might have been able to agree between them.”
Prime London Holdings 11 Ltd v Thurloe Lodge Ltd
Business and Property Court (Mr Nicholas Thompsell sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court) 14 February 2022
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