Consensus Business Group (Ground Rents) Limited v Palgrave Gardens Freehold Company Limited [2020] EWHC 920 (Ch), [2020] 2 P. & C.R. 13, [2020] L. & T.R. 12, Falk J

This was a collective enfranchisement claim for 288 flats in five buildings, with an underground car park. The experts agreed that each block was structurally detached. The freeholder challenged the validity of the notice on the ground that a single notice could not be served for more than one structurally detached building. The Judge held that the whole combined structure amounted to a building which was structurally detached, and that a single notice could be served even if the building contained separate buildings within it. The landlord’s appeal was dismissed by Falk J in the High Court in an important decision on amendment of notices, and which complex multi-block developments qualify as a “self-contained building”. Tom Jefferies appeared for the landlord. The tenants were represented by Philip Rainey QC and Jonathan Upton.