KC Homes – Property Litigation

Uncontested lease renewal against global bookmaker

The Project

WHN Solicitors was instructed to assist in relation to uncontested lease renewal proceedings which had been instituted by a global bookmaker brand against the client in respect of high street premises in Lancashire.

What the client said

“Consistently thorough, practical and technically proficient. The outcome was the best in all the circumstances”

What WHN Delivered

The team at WHN have in-depth experience of helping clients with uncontested lease renewals, guiding clients through the process and providing advice on the law to achieve positive and cost-effective outcomes.  They deal with Court proceedings where they are needed as well as working closely with the firm’s commercial property team to draft the renewal lease.

This matter, led by Daniel Long with assistance from Eleanor Longworth, required some urgency at the point of first instruction. The bookmaker had issued court proceedings some time before the matter came to the client’s – or our – attention and well beyond the deadline for the client to comply with the Civil Procedure Rules in relation to the deadline for filing and serving an Acknowledgement of Service.

Failure to comply with the relevant rule results in a default sanction which could have handed the tenant a significant advantage from the outset.

It was therefore necessary to act quickly and take all steps to protect the client’s position from an early stage. We were successfully able to achieve this for the client following protracted liaison with the bookmaker’s solicitor and without the need to make an application to court and incur the costs and court fee that would come with that.

Those steps allowed the matter to proceed as a more typical renewal claim and we continued to be involved by liaising with the bookmaker and the client’s agent/surveyor providing discrete advice on the renewal terms, including length of term.

We remained on the court record and continued to assist and advise up to the point of a renewal lease ultimately completing. We employed tactics to keep litigation costs to a minimum whilst allowing negotiations to progress without the cost and time pressures of complying with court directions. We also advised in relation to discontinuance and costs liability.

The renewal lease that completed was based on passing rent, meaning no loss of rental income for the client. In a tough economic climate, this is regarded as a very positive outcome.