The tenants of flats in Brighton have succeeded in a High Court action against businessman Nicholas Van Hoogstraten in which they sought to recover the costs of a lengthy legal battle to obtain the freehold of their properties.
McCombe J allowed the claim by Palmeira Square Nos 2-6 Ltd, a limited liability company set up by the tenants in order to acquire their flats in several Regency houses in Palmeira Square, Brighton.
The judge accepted Palmeira’s argument that Hoogstraten was “the guiding hand” behind various companies and individuals that opposed it in court in its attempts to acquire the freehold of the houses. The county court judge had earlier refused to order costs against Hoogstraten, despite Palmeira’s claims that its opponents in the action had acted at his direction.
Holding that Hoogstraten was the “controlling mind” behind the various parties, McCombe J said: “The claimants litigation costs from 1993 were caused by the defendant and he is to pay such costs as Palmeira have been ordered to pay to other parties.”
PLS News 28/3/01
