STAYING FORFEITURE PROCEEDINGS
Case: The Trustees of Godinton House v Luandy Farming Limited
- In this case I act for the Tenant in a dispute where the Landlords allege some breaches of covenant which were then set out in a Notice given under section 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925 as a preliminary to forfeiture proceedings. Following the service of the section 146 Notice, the Landlords commenced forfeiture proceedings in the Canterbury County Court.
- The letting, which is a farm business tenancy, is the subject of a formal Lease. The Lease contains a dispute resolution provision which requires, in default, any dispute to be determined by arbitration.
- In the possession proceedings I applied to the Court to stay the forfeiture action in reliance upon section 4 of the Arbitration Act 1996. Section 4 requires the Court to stay proceedings where there is a valid arbitration agreement. The application succeeded. The forfeiture proceedings are stayed pending the outcome of the Arbitration.
- This is food for thought in relation to the drafting of farm business tenancy agreements where, despite the fact that the Law Commission recommended a wholesale change in the law of forfeiture in 2004, forfeiture remains a landlord’s route to recover possession for a breach of covenant.
© P R Williams
3 July 2024
P R Williams, Ebery Williams – Author of Scammell, Densham & Williams Law of Agricultural Holdings