FD Realisations, formerly Fish plc, in administration, is suing its landlord Salvage Wharf Ltd in a dispute over a lease assignment.
FD, which holds a 25-year lease of The Pavillion, Salvage Wharf, Commercial Street, Birmingham, planned to assign the lease to Loco Restaurants. It sought permission from Salvage, and provided it with details of the proposals on 23 August 2002, however, Salvage refused to grant its consent.
In a claim issued at London’s High Court and just made publicly available, FD says that, in September 2002, it offered to surrender the lease in exchange for a payment of £250,000 from Salvage. But Salvage allegedly maintains that, because £250,000 is not the figure at which FD plans to dispose of the lease, the relevant lease provisions have not been operated correctly and a proper application for a licence to assign has not been made.
FD now seeks declarations that its offer was a proper offer and that Salvage’s refusal to consent to the assignment was unreasonable. It contends that because Salvage has rejected the offer, or has refused to accept or refuse it, FD is free to assign the lease for a consideration of at least £250,000. FD also seeks declarations that Salvage has refused to comply with its statutory duty under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1988 and that FD is entitled to assign the lease to Loco Restaurants.
References: PLS News 23/5/03
