Tenant’s appeal against possession order struck out by court

The High Court has struck out a commercial tenant’s notice of appeal against a possession order because it was “bound to fail”.

Rob Winder Senior Associate Chartered Legal Executive in our Dispute Resolution team reports on this recent case.

The issue arose after the landlord had granted the tenant a lease of the property in 2020. The lease contained a break clause giving the landlord the option to terminate with appropriate written notice.

The landlord served notice of termination in 2021 by special delivery post and by personally leaving a copy of the notice at the property, but the tenant denied the notice had been served.

A county court recorder found that the service was valid, and the landlord obtained an order for possession.

The tenant applied for permission to appeal against the order and was directed by the High Court as to the appeal bundle that it needed to file and serve. However, it failed to comply, and it did not attend the hearing.

The court then granted the landlord’s application to strike out the appeal.

The judge noted that the court had a general discretion to adjourn the hearing given the tenant’s absence, but there was no good reason to do so. It would result in further delay in circumstances where the tenant had ignored the court’s direction.

The appeal had no real prospect of succeeding on the material that was before the court.

 For more information about the issues featured in this article or any aspect of commercial property law please contact Rob on 01228 516666 or click here to send him an email.