Easements – Extinguishment – Exercise of statutory powers – Easement of access benefiting flat – Building in multiple occupation – Notice under s352 of Housing Act 1985 requiring works – Works obstructing easement – Whether easement extinguished – Whether remedy for nuisance where easement not extinguished
Nelson Bakewell’s (NB) auctions team, which moved to Savills a year ago, has left behind an unwelcome legacy.
Hackney council is suing the firm for £500,000 in damages for alleged misrepresentations made at an auction in 1999. City law firm Bircham Dyson Bell, Hackney’s former legal adviser, is also a defendant.
This week, the council confirmed that they had lodged a High Court claim to recoup £500,000 awarded in damages, in 2004, to the purchasers of a Shoreditch site, in London N1, formerly owned by the council and the Metropolitan Police Authority.
Westbury Homes developers Vraj and Joshna Pankhania purchased the site at the auction for £3.9m. It includes the Chocolate Factory at 14-18 Nile Street, 7 Shepherdess Place, and an adjoining car park at 17-33 Westland Place.
However, their development plans were delayed by a year when they discovered that National Car Parks (NCP) occupied nos 17-33 as a protected tenant, rather than under a contractual licence terminable on three months’ notice as indicated in the auction catalogue. The pair eventually paid NCP £80,000 to vacate the site.
In 2004, the council was ordered to pay to the Pankhanias the difference between the purchase price and the property’s true £3.4m value.
At the time, the judge said that employees of NB had known that the occupancy representation was inaccurate, but had included the statement in the catalogue to “induce” the Pankhanias into purchasing the site.
All the parties involved declined to comment, although Bircham said that it was contesting the claim.
Hackney’s decision to outsource the sale of £50m of property to NB between 1999 and May 2004 was opposed by local residents, and auctions held in 2001 and 2002 were subjected to protest action.
References: EGi Legal News 17/02/06
