High Court dismisses collective enfranchisement…

The High Court has handed down judgment in Bennets Courtyard Limited v Bennets Courtyard Airspace Limited [2026] EWHC 1119 (Ch), a collective enfranchisement dispute concerning the acquisition of both the freehold of a residential development in Wimbledon and a valuable airspace lease.

The case arose after leaseholders sought to collectively enfranchise the building under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. Although the freehold had been transferred before the claim was commenced, registration of the transfer had not yet completed at HM Land Registry when the initial notice was served.

The dispute centred on whether the notice had been validly served on the equitable owner of the freehold, or whether it instead needed to be served on the registered proprietor during the “registration gap”.

Dismissing the appeal, the High Court held that the registered proprietor remained the relevant “reversioner” for the purposes of the 1993 Act until registration was completed.

Ellodie Gibbons acted for the Appellant, instructed by Jamieson Alexander Legal.

Click here to view the judgment