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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division) Decisions >> Hill & Anor v Transport for London [2005] EWHC 856 (Ch) (16 May 2005) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2005/856.html Cite as: [2005] 3 WLR 471, [2005] EWHC 856 (Ch), [2005] Ch 379, [2005] 3 All ER 677 |
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CHANCERY DIVISION
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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(1) NORMAN HILL (2) TERENCE WELFORD |
Claimants |
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- and - |
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TRANSPORT FOR LONDON |
Defendant |
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Mr Thomas Jefferies (instructed by Eversheds LLP) appeared for the Defendant
(Hearing dates: 15, 16 and 17 February 2005)
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Crown Copyright ©
MR JUSTICE RIMER:
Introduction
Title to the relevant land
"a right of access approximately four metres wide along the entire length of the retaining wall for East India Dock Road in favour of the [GLC] as is shown coloured brown on the plan annexed hereto".
That right gave the GLC access to the arches (which remained in its ownership) from Lanrick Road and over Iron Bridge Wharf North.
The Limitation Act 1980
"(1) No action shall be brought by any person to recover any land after the expiration of twelve years from the date on which the right of action accrued to him or, if it first accrued to some person through whom he claims, to that person.
(7) Part II of [Schedule 1] contains provisions modifying the provisions of this section in their application to actions brought by, or a person claiming through, the Crown or any spiritual or eleemosynary corporation sole."
"Subject to
(a) section 18 of this Act [which is not material]; and
(b) section 75 of the Land Registration Act 1925;
at the expiration of the period prescribed by this Act for any person to bring an action to recover land (including a redemption action) the title of that person to the land shall be extinguished."
"(1) The Limitation Acts shall apply to registered land in the same manner and to the same extent as those Acts apply to land not registered, except that where, if the land were not registered, the estate of the person registered as proprietor would be extinguished, such estate shall not be extinguished but shall be deemed to be held by the proprietor for the time being in trust for the person who, by virtue of the said Acts, has acquired title against any proprietor, but without prejudice to the estates and interests of any other person interested in the land whose estate or interest is not extinguished by those Acts."
"10. section 15(1) of this Act shall apply to the bringing of an action to recover any land by the Crown with the substitution for the reference to twelve years of a reference to thirty years .
12. Notwithstanding section 15(1) of this Act, where in the case of any action brought by a person other than the Crown the right of action first accrued to the Crown through whom the person in question claims, the action may be brought at any time before the expiration of
(a) the period during which the action could have been brought by the Crown ; or
(b) twelve years from the date on which the right of action accrued to some person other than the Crown ;
whichever period first expires."
"12A. For the avoidance of doubt, and notwithstanding anything in paragraphs 10 and 12, where in the case of any action brought by a person other than the Crown the right of action originally accrued to a person other than the Crown but subsequently accrued to the Crown through whom the person in question claims, the action may not be brought by that person after the expiration of twelve years from the date on which the right of action originally accrued."
The facts
"29. The first lettings of the Arches took place within a matter of weeks of [BTSL's] acquisition of the site in 1985. Indeed, this happened whilst clearance of the rest of the site was still going on and prior to the boundary wall being completed. During this period the site was secured by security guards with dogs.
30. Until 1991 [Mr Hill] and I let out the Arches in a fairly informal way. We gave tenants rent books and collected the rents ourselves. There was a high demand for them and a regular turnover of tenants. That having been said, though, a number of them were there from the beginning until we had to give up the land in November 2000.
31. In 1991 we handed over the letting of the Arches to the managing agents Sovereign House Estates in Hackney. They found tenants and collected the rents. Unlike us they required tenants to sign tenancy agreements."
"3. On acquisition of the Site [BTSL] made an application for planning permission to construct a waste transfer station on the site. Whilst that was ongoing we cleared the Site and immediately entered into possession of the Arches, which were used for the storage of machinery, tools, oil an diesel. We constructed a brick wall all the way round the Site save for the riverside wharf.
5. During the course of the erection of the waste management station on the Site, [BTSL] decided to rent out the Arches under licence agreements for 3 months duration, although we have been advised that such licenses [sic] may well have actually constituted tenancies. The income generated helped Blackwall to pay the mortgage on the Site. The demand for the Arches was high and none stayed vacant for any length of time after a licensee had vacated."
" the Arches have been used by the owners of the land since 1934 and if that point arises we are claiming prospective [sic] use and we are trying to trace back the title so that we can prepare a Statutory Declaration showing 15 years user."
The Department's reply was that the arches were not landlocked because it had the benefit of the right of way to them from Lanrick Road and over Iron Bridge Wharf North reserved to the GLC in November 1985. As to the solicitors' apparent belief that proof of 15 years use would do the trick for the claimants, they referred them to Part II of Schedule 1 to the Limitation Act 1980. They threatened proceedings for possession but took none.
Conclusions on the evidence
Result