Property developer Neonhall is suing solicitor Finers Stephens Innocent for £250,000 damages in a dispute over access to property at a former mansion in Sussex.
Neonhall claims that the law firm acted negligently in drawing up a transfer of parts of the property in 1997, and maintains that, as a result, it has no right of access to one plot. It is seeking the difference in value between the plot with and without a satisfactory right of way.
The claimant allegedly purchased the Hyde country estate, consisting of a mansion house, outbuildings, and 13.39 acres of land, for £750,000 in May 1996. The vendors retained a buffer of agricultural land that almost completely encircled the Hyde, but granted a right of way onto access roads.
Following residential development of the estate, the claimant sold three units to Saxon Estates Ltd along with the northern part of the estate road. The other plots were later sold, with the exception of one, which was accessed from the northern road belonging to Saxon.
Neonhall claims that the solicitor negligently failed to reserve, either expressly or impliedly, a right of way for the plot, except, arguably, for the purposes connected with the use of the plot at the time of the transfer, which did not include residential use.
References: PLS News 2/4/03
