Chris Addison of Nine Chambers successful in unpaid service charge claim involving historic freehold covenants

Chris Addison of Nine Chambers recently acted for the Claimant in a claim for unpaid service charges arising from an industrial estate.

The Claimant owned part of the estate and the estate road, while the Defendant was the freehold owner of a commercial property which could only be accessed via that estate road. Both parties were successors in title to a historic transfer of land containing covenants requiring the provision of services and the payment of service charges for estate maintenance, including the upkeep of the estate road and other shared facilities.

The Defendant denied liability on three bases: that the covenants did not run with the land, that there was no contractual obligation to pay the service charges, and that the Defendant should not contribute towards expenditure from which it did not directly benefit.

The Court found for the Claimant on the first two issues, holding that the covenant was a freehold covenant of the type recognised in Halsall v Brizell [1957] Ch 169, which runs with the land and binds successors in title. The third element of the Defence, relating to benefit, was subsequently abandoned by the Defendant.

The Claimant was then required to establish the proportion of the overall service charge expenditure for which the Defendant was liable, together with the recoverable sums. This was successfully proved by a surveyor’s certificate confirming the relevant percentage, supported by receipts and service charge accounts demonstrating that the sums claimed were recoverable under the covenant.

This outcome further reflects Chris Addison’s established practice in property and commercial disputes, including claims arising from historic land transfers, service charge liabilities and the enforcement of covenants between successors in title.