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Uncontroverted claim of breach of DMC: grant of an injunction
In Park Vale (Management) Ltd v Tang Wing Kin ([2013] HKEC 342, LT) Park Vale was the manager of a residential estate and T was the owner of one of the flats on the estate. Park Vale adduced evidence...
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Insufficient evidence of possession and intention to possess
In Tang Ching v Wu Wan Yau ([2013] HKEC 363, CFI) T claimed to have been in adverse possession of W’s land since 1976. He claimed that his possession had initially been under the terms of an oral...
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Terms of agreement meant that there was no exclusive possession
In Westminster City Council v Clarke ([1992] 2 A.C. 288, HL) the council and C entered into an agreement that gave C the right to occupy a room in a hostel for homeless, single men. Some of the...
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Street v Mountford
Introduction Lord Templeman’s judgment in Street v Mountford ([1985] A.C. 809) was an authoritative restatement of the defining characteristics of a lease. It provided clarity as to the factors that...
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‘Employment agreement’ a disguised tenancy: failure to plead the terms of the...
In Chau Yu v Kwan Chuen Kuen (No 2) ([1964] HKLR 309, CA) P was the tenant of some shop premises. P had entered into an employment agreement with D under which D was to manage the menswear department...
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Weekly review: 18th – 22nd March 2013
Adverse possession: possession There is no adverse possession where there is insufficient evidence of possession itself (Tang Ching v Wu Wan Yau) Leases: essential elements When seeking to argue that...
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Service occupancy: must the occupancy be necessary or is it enough that it be...
In Glasgow Corporation v Johnstone ([1965] A.C. 609, HL) a full-time church officer was required by the terms of his employment to occupy a house next to the church. The house was part of the same...
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Licence of houses on school grounds: necessary to performance of teacher’s...
In Commissioners of Valuation for Northern Ireland v Fermanagh Protestant Board of Education ([1969] 1 W.L.R. 1708, HL) school teachers had licences of houses in the school grounds. There was no...
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Service occupancy: meaning of ‘for the better performance’ of duties
In Wragg v Surrey County Council ([2008] EWCA Civ. 19, CA (Eng)) W was a countryside ranger employed by the Council to carry out duties relating to the management and conservation of areas of common...
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Service occupancy: tenancy or not?
In Fox v Dalby ((1874 – 75) L.R. 10 C.P. 285) D was a sergeant in the army. He was required by army rules to live in a house near stores where ammunition and equipment were kept if his commanding...
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Weekly review: 25th – 28th March 2013
Leases: licences: possession: service occupancy An employee’s occupation of property of his employer is in possession if either (i) the occupation was necessary for the performance of his duties as...
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Service occupancy: requirement arising from terms of service
In Langley v Appleby ([1976] 3 All E.R. 391) the question (for tax purposes) was whether police officers were ‘occupiers’ of rent-free accommodation provided by the police force. There was no express...
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Trustees ordered to hand over compensation payable on resumption
In Howin Industrial Ltd v Li Koon Lin ([2013] HKEC 372, CFI) P divided property it owned into sections and assigned one section to each of the defendants (to make use of their rights as indigenous...
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Service occupier: what if the relevant work began after the employment...
In Norris v Checksfield ([1991] 1 W.L.R. 1241, CA (Eng)) N employed C as a semi-skilled mechanic. A little later N asked C whether he would like to live in N’s bungalow. The conditions were that he...
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Weekly Review: 2nd – 5th April
Leases: licences: possession: service occupancy When it is contended that occupation of a particular property is essential for the performance of the employee’s duties, it must be established that only...
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Adverse possession: limitation period; abandonment of possession?
In Law Bing Kee v Person(s) in occupation of RP ([2013] HKEC 405, CFI) P was the registered owner of the disputed land (part of a larger portion owned by him). D’s predecessor as owner of neighbouring...
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Construction of ‘curtilage’ covenant in Government lease
In New Mercury Holdings Corp v Secretary for Justice ([2013] HKEC 435, CFI) P wanted to re-develop the residential properties on sites it owned. It sought a declaration that the government should...
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Faulty sub-DMC: rectification
In Re Lee Mei Yan Kris ([2013] HKEC 382, CFI) a flat was owned by three people as tenants in common in equal shares. The flat was partitioned in 1980. A sub-DMC was entered into but this failed to...
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Breach of DMC: landlord’s liability for tenant’s use of common areas
In 海怡閣(成和道) 業主立案法團v 泓璟集團有限公司 ([2013] HKEC 345, LT) L was the registered owner of shops forming part of a building. It permitted its tenant to use the adjoining common parts (though it did not purport...
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Landlord’s failure to give vacant possession: tenant’s duty to mitigate and...
In Mega Yield International Holdings Ltd v Fonfair Co Ltd ([2013] HKEC 313, CFI) D entered into an option to grant a lease to P. The option was exercised but D was unable to give vacant possession of...
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