Cases - J. Murphy and Sons Ltd v Railtrack plc
Record details
- Name
- J. Murphy and Sons Ltd v Railtrack plc
- Date
- [2002]
- Citation
- EWCA Civ 679
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Landlord and tenant – landlocked premises – no right of way or access for tenant – hypothetical tenant - treatment of premises by court for purpose of calculating rent, Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, s34
- Summary
-
On expiration of a lease of a former railway goods yard, the parties were unable to reach agreement on the rent to be paid under the new lease. The expired lease provided no right of way for the tenant (although, in reality, the tenant gained access over adjoining land which the tenant also occupied). The judge was asked to determine whether the premises were to be treated as landlocked and inaccessible by the hypothetical tenant for the purposes of calculating the new rent under section 34 of the 1954 Act.
The judge determined a rent of £157,000 per annum, incorporating a discount of 40 per cent from the market rent to take account of the lack of access. The landlord objected to the discount. The Court of Appeal, agreeing with the judge, held that there was no justification for abandoning reality and treating the tenancy as including rights that the landlord was unable to grant. The judge was correct to treat the premises as landlocked for the purpose of the grant of a new tenancy and in particular for the purpose of calculating the new rent payable under section 34