Knight Frank comes out on top in first skirmish with property fund investors

Lawyers representing the investors in a property investment fund have been given a month to provide details about their lawsuit against Knight Frank or drop the case. The dispute relates to Home Long Income Fund, an investment vehicle set up by fund manager Alvarium and a sister fund to Home REIT. Home REIT was set up in 2020 to invest in sheltered housing. After a successful launch, its shares plummeted in value and in February last year regulator the Financial Conduct Authority started a probe into Alvarium’s involvement with Home REIT and HLIF. According to court papers, Knight Frank was hired by Alvarium to provide quarterly valuation reports from November 2018 to January 2023. In August last year, according to court papers, law firm Macfarlanes wrote to Knight Frank to say it was acting for a large group of investors who were unhappy with the sharp decrease in net asset value that took place in 2022 and 2023. The letter said the fund’s property portfolio had been “greatly exaggerated” and there might be “potential claims” against Knight Frank. Macfarlanes eventually filed a claim against Knight Frank in January. However, according to court papers, it hasn’t yet filed a “particulars of claim” document which clearly and succinctly lays out exactly what the allegations are. Knight Frank’s lawyers applied to have the case struck out at a hearing earlier this month. At the same hearing, lawyers for investors asked to have until the end of the year to file their particulars of claim. In a ruling handed down yesterday, judge Charles Hollander KC refused to strike the case out immediately. He also refused to give the investors until the end of the years to file their papers. Instead, he said the particulars of claim must be filed by 4pm on 4 July. If that doesn’t happen, the claim will be automatically struck out. In his ruling, the judge said that, from what he had heard in the hearing, he doubted whether the claimants would be able to bring a successful case even if they did file in time. “I have to say that on present material I have considerable scepticism as to whether these allegations give rise to a claim against Knight Frank,” he said. He added that once the particulars are filed, Knight Frank’s lawyers might try and get the case dismissed again, saying “whether these causes of action against Knight Frank can survive an application for reverse summary judgment depends on evidence not presently before me.” Knight Frank said in an emailed statement that they are considering the content of the judgment and declined to make any further comment. Home Long Income Fund v Knight Frank LLPCommercial Court (Charles Hollander KC) 3 June 2025 Image © Tingey Injury Law Firm/Unsplash