London & Argyll Developments Ltd and Mount Cook Land Ltd have clashed over the future use of the former University of Westminster student union building, which has been empty for more than four years.
In the latest of a series of disputes over 104-108 Bolsover Street, London W1, tenant London & Argyll has accused landlord Mount Cook Land Ltd of acting “capriciously” and seeking to “frustrate it at every available opportunity” in its handling of applications to change the building’s use.
It claims that the landlord was seeking to frustrate its attempts to generate a rental income, and put pressure on it to surrender the lease it acquired in 1998, and which still has more than 100 years to run, at a price advantageous to the landlord.
In October and November 2002, London & Argyll twice applied for landlord’s consent for it to seek planning permission for an educational user and secondly for D1 user, principally educational and medical.
Mount Cook refused consent, and London & Argyll is now asking Lloyd J to rule that the landlord has unreasonably withheld its consent.
Romie Tager QC, counsel for the tenant said: “In essence, the claimant contends that none of the reasons that the defendant gave represented the genuine reason for the landlord’s decision to refuse consent.
“The true reason was that the defendant wanted to frustrate the claimant’s attempt to generate a rental income from the property, and thus put pressure upon the claimant to invite the defendant to agree to a surrender of the claimant’s interest under the lease to the defendant at a price, and on terms, that would be advantageous to the defendant.
“It is four and a half years since the University of Westminster vacated the property. With a reasonable landlord, one would have expected these premises to have been re-let at least three years ago.
“As it is, they remain empty and it is unlikely that, whatever the outcome of this case, they will be occupied this year.
Explaining that his client had applied for a change of use of the premises to D1 use, which incorporates educational and medical use, including such uses as libraries, he said:
“The response was that any type of D1 use would attract noisy students to Bolsover Street, and that any kind of D1 use will mean that the rent that would be attracted would be less than that obtained from an office use.”
This was after the landlord had met the previous tenant’s application to use the premises as offices with a refusal on the grounds that there were enough offices in the area, and that it preferred a mixed use that would be supported by retaining the property for educational use, he claimed.
He continued: “Reasons were put forward that could not possibly have been considered by a rational person as having anything to do with D1. They merely repeated the same old rubbish.
“There is a complete evidential absence of any indication as to what went through the mind of the decision maker.”
The hearing is expected to last four days.
London & Argyll Developments Ltd v Mount Cook Land Ltd Chancery Division (Lloyd J) 5 June 2003.
References: PLS News 5/6/03
