City and Metropolitan Properties Ltd v Greycroft Ltd
City and Metropolitan Properties Ltd v Greycroft Ltd
- 1987
- Estates Gazette 283(6342) 11 July 1987, 199-205(3) .
ChD 23 January 1987. Action by tenants (T) claiming damages against landlords (L) for losses sustained whilst tenants of a flat. When T acquired the lease in 1982 L were in serious breach of the repairing covenant . T commenced their present action in August 1984, the writ originally claiming specific performance of the covenant. The repairs were not carried out until December 1984, by which time T had assigned the lease. T amended the writ to claim consequential damages sustained while they were tenants. L put forward two defences: 1) when T assigned the lease, all rights in respect of it passed to the assignees, including any right to damages 2) the heads of damages were too remote; T had purchased the flat as a speculation for early resale at a profit. ChD rejected the first defence, holding that L`s liability to T for existing breaches was capable of surviving the assignment in the same way as T`s liability to the landlord. Held also, with regard to the second defence, that in pr
ChD 23 January 1987. Action by tenants (T) claiming damages against landlords (L) for losses sustained whilst tenants of a flat. When T acquired the lease in 1982 L were in serious breach of the repairing covenant . T commenced their present action in August 1984, the writ originally claiming specific performance of the covenant. The repairs were not carried out until December 1984, by which time T had assigned the lease. T amended the writ to claim consequential damages sustained while they were tenants. L put forward two defences: 1) when T assigned the lease, all rights in respect of it passed to the assignees, including any right to damages 2) the heads of damages were too remote; T had purchased the flat as a speculation for early resale at a profit. ChD rejected the first defence, holding that L`s liability to T for existing breaches was capable of surviving the assignment in the same way as T`s liability to the landlord. Held also, with regard to the second defence, that in pr