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In Padwick Properties v Punj Lloyd Ltd [2016] EWHC 502 (Ch) the High Court gave judgment for £4 million against the guarantor of a lease of office premises in Stockport and made an order for specific performance of its obligation to take up a new lease. The Defendant had alleged that there had been a surrender of the lease by operation of law. The tenant, a subsidiary of the Defendant, had done a pre-pack, and the administrators had returned the keys to the landlord’s solicitors accompanied by a letter offering a surrender. The Defendant alleged that the landlord had accepted an offer to surrender by changing the locks, providing security for the vacant property and marketing it with vacant possession. This defence was rejected on the basis that the landlord’s actions were not inconsistent with the continuation of the lease. Tom Jefferies acted for the Claimant, instructed by Allen & Overy.
