Q: When is a house not a house? A: When 88.5% of the house is now used as offices.
The Court of Appeal, in Grosvenor Estates Ltd v Prospect Estates Ltd [2008] EWCA Civ 1281 seems to have taken a different view from that expressed by Lord Neuberger in the penultimate paragraph of his opinion in Boss Holdings Ltd v. Grosvenor West End Properties Ltd [2008] 1 WLR 289 . In Boss, Neuberger opined that an 18th century building, which had originally been “designed” as a house, could remain a house for the purposes of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 notwithstanding that its latest use was a business use. Such a building might still reasonably be called a house. His former colleagues in the Court of Appeal disagree. Will the Lords have the final say? This case is considered in detail in the CPI Update to be published at the end of this week.