Cases - Frogmore Developments Ltd v Shirayama Shokusan Company Ltd and Others

Record details

Name
Frogmore Developments Ltd v Shirayama Shokusan Company Ltd and Others
Date
[2000]
Citation
1 EGLR 121
Keywords
Rights to light - creation by express grant - amount of light granted - interference - construction of lease - whether a right to light created by express grant entitles the dominant owner to a sufficient amount of light for the ordinary notions of mankind
Summary

The claimant in this case was the developer of land and blocks of buildings on the east side of the Riverside Building on the site of London's old County Hall, with the Riverside Building being owned by the defendant.

The claimant's title was subject to a reservation in favour of the defendant of 'the right to the free and unobstructed passage of light and air to [the Riverside Building] at all times'.

The claimant's building plans, which involved the construction of new blocks of flats within a central courtyard between the two parties' land, threatened the access of light to the Riverside Building to a substantial degree.

The court therefore sought to determine what the reservation meant, when construed in the circumstances in which it had been created. It found that it was set out in clear terms and meant that nothing should be done on the claimant's land that would cause an actionable interference with the light enjoyed by the Riverside Building.

Even though the new building was contemplated when the reservation was created, the argument that the light defined by the reservation was in some way to be governed by the amount left after that new building had been put up was rejected.