Cases - Magnohard Ltd v Cadogan and another
Record details
- Name
- Magnohard Ltd v Cadogan and another
- Date
- [2012]
- Citation
- EWCA Civ 594
- Legislation
- Keywords
- definition of a house - a house is not a block of flats
- Summary
-
The building was built in 1888 and originally comprised six residential suites, a communal entrance hall, a housekeeper's flat and three small shops. The housekeeper's flat was later converted to a residential flat and had its own entrance and the layout of the flats had also been altered to create an additional flat. Evidence presented to the court indicated that the building could be converted into a single dwelling, although that had not been done.
The Court of Appeal held that the building was not 'a house' for the purposes of the 1967 Act, as it was not reasonable to call it a house. The consensus of judicial opinion is that a purpose built block of flats cannot reasonably be called a house. The court recognised that, whatever the meaning of 'a house... reasonably so called', there will be cases close to the dividing line, where, however clear the meaning of the expression, reasonable people will differ in their views, as well as cases where small differences in the facts could produce a different outcome.