The purchaser of an auctioned Bournemouth hotel has won a High Court claim for ownership of part of the building, which the vendors claimed they had not intended to sell.
UK 2000 Ltd had purchased the Mon Bijou Hotel at a public auction in 2001. It subsequently discovered that former owners Aubrey and Rachel Weis had retained two bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor of the building for their own use.
Although an addendum attached to the sales particulars included the rooms, the Weises claimed that the auctioneer had been asked to read out a statement specifying that the rooms were excluded from the sale together with a Jewish ritual bath at the rear of the building.
However, the High Court has refused to exclude the rooms from the £275,000 sale, and has ordered a rectification of the register.
Deputy Judge Alan Steinfeld QC held that to allow an auctioneer to change the identity of a property by a “last-minute announcement” would be an “appalling” practice. Such a possibility, he said, could have “startling consequences” for a bidder who may not have heard the announcement fully.
The judge added that, even if the announcement had been made, it had clearly not been sufficiently plain and explicit to be understood and be acted upon by prospective bidders.
However, he agreed that the Mikveh bath, which had a separate entrance at the back of the hotel, had been clearly excluded from the sale in the particulars.
UK 2000 Ltd v Weis and another Chancery Division (Mr Alan Steinfeld QC sitting as a Deputy Judge of the division) 20 October 2004.
Norman Primost (instructed by David Wineman) appeared for the claimant; Daniel Margolin (instructed by Lovells) appeared for the defendants.
References: EGi Legal News 25/10/04
