16 Dec 2016
Leave to appeal was refused because the issues were primarily factual, no novel or unsettled point of law was identified, the alleged errors were case-specific inferences that did not raise a question of sufficient public or private importance to justify the Court of Appeal's resources, and the monetary interest and passage of time did not overcome the need for finality.
13 Sept 2016
The High Court held the District Court was wrong to find an implied surrender; where the tenant never entered possession, the landlords' permitting the prior occupier to remain, a verbal comment in a broader conversation, and delay in invoicing did not amount to unequivocal conduct accepting surrender. Mere inaction or maintainence of the status quo is insufficient to effect surrender by operation of law. Appeal allowed and judgment for the Trustees entered.
30 Nov 2015
The court held the landlord offered possession ready for fit out by 15 June 2011 so the defendants' purported cancellation was a repudiation for which the first defendant is liable for damages; the alleged guarantee was unenforceable because s27 Property Law Act 2007 was not complied with and estoppel failed; the extras claim failed for lack of agreement; damages were quantified using the actual code compliance certificate date and specified OPEX figures.
7 Feb 2014
The 'clean and tidy' clause did not impose an obligation on Mobil to remediate historic subsurface contamination to restore the sites to their 1920s condition; the obligation is measured by reference to the land's condition and the class of tenant likely to occupy it at lease commencement (industrial use in 1985), and no implied remediation term was warranted.
7 May 2010
The 30 June 2006 Deed of Variation extending the lease term produced the legal fiction of surrender by operation of law and a regrant of a new lease to BFS; the plaintiffs failed to discharge the standard required to displace that fiction and there are contested factual issues (intent, estoppel, mistake, mitigation) that preclude summary judgment for either side, so both summary judgment applications are dismissed.