Cases - Lyme Valley Squash Club Ltd v Newcastle under Lyme BC

Record details

Name
Lyme Valley Squash Club Ltd v Newcastle under Lyme BC
Date
[1985]
Citation
2 AII ER 405, Ch D
Legislation
Keywords
Rights of light
Summary

The plaintiff company bought land from the defendant local authority for development as a squash club. The land, at the time, was surrounded on three sides by the local authority's land which was used as a public car park. The conveyance contained no express grant of a right to light. In fact, the agreement for sale had included a clause preventing the plaintiff from acquiring any easements or other rights, but this clause had been omitted from the conveyance by mistake. After the opening of the squash club, the local authority decided to build a retail store on land next to the club. The plaintiff began an action claiming that the proposed building would interfere with the access of light to the club and sought an injunction preventing the development. It claimed that it was entitled to a right to light on the basis either of the doctrine of non-derogation from grant or on the basis of section 62 of LPA 1925.

The judge held that the plaintiff was entitled to a right to light on the basis of the principle of non-derogation from grant. He decided, on the basis of correspondence and evidence from witnesses, that the parties had proceeded on the basis that the car park was a permanent feature and with the mutual intention that the plaintiff should have light to its windows. He also relied on the fact that the plaintiff owned only about one metre of land around the squash club. The judge rejected the defendant's argument that the conveyance should be rectified to include the omitted clause. He also decided that the plaintiff had acquired a right to light under section 62 of LPA 1925.