Harra & Ors v Arken
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Mr Spence |
| Judgment Date | 10 May 2019 |
| Neutral Citation | BT/99/2017 |
| Court | Lands Tribunal (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 10 May 2019 |
LANDS TRIBUNAL FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
LANDS TRIBUNAL AND COMPENSATION ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964
BUSINESS TENANCIES (NORTHERN IRELAND) ORDER 1996
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION
BT/99/2017
BETWEEN
NIGEL HARRA AND OTHERS – APPLICANTS
AND
ARKEN LIMITED – RESPONDENT
Re: 4th Floor, Lindsay House, 10 Callender Street, Belfast
Lands Tribunal – Henry Spence MRICS Dip Rating IRRV (Hons)
Background
1. Stephen Philip Prenter, Peter Burnside, Nigel Harra, Ciaran Hunter, Michael Jennings, Sean
Lavery, Francis Henry McCartan, Francis Martin, Brian Murphy, Angela Reavey, Alex Ward and
Johnny Webb (“the applicants”) were the tenants of premises at 4th Floor, Lindsay House, 10
Callender Street, Belfast (“the reference property”) by way of a lease dated 20th October 2006
between the applicants and Arken Limited (“the respondent”) as landlord.
2. On 30th March 2017 the applicants issued a Form 4 Request for a New Tenancy (“the notice”)
and a Landlord’s Response was received on 22nd May 2017, stating that it was willing to grant
a new tenancy.
3. The parties were unable to agree terms and on 2 7th September 2017 the applicants made a
reference to the Lands Tribunal by way of a Form EA Application (“the tenancy application”).
The reference was timetabled for hearing on several occasions but was subject to
adjournment and included the respondent changing its expert. The Tribunal was informed of
the change of agent at a mention on 7th December 2018. On 6th February 2019 the Tribunal
issued final directions for a hearing:
Expert Reports 5th March 2019
Experts to meet on or before 19th March 2019
Hearing 3rd May 2019
4. On 13th March 2019 the respondent’s solicitor wrote to the Tribunal (copied to the applicants’
solicitor) advising that the applicants named on the tenancy application were not the current
partners of the tenant company and as such would not be individuals named as tenants on
any new tenancy of the reference property.
5. The letter also advised:
“Essentially, therefore, the Tenancy Application has been made in the name of 6
individuals who currently have no interest in the Premises and who do not enjoy
protection under the Order. The inevitable consequence of this anomaly is that the
Tenancy Application is void, as are the extant proceedings. As of the date of this letter
we are not aware of any ability of the Lands Tribunal to amend the Tenancy
Application.”
6. Subsequently, on 29th March 2019, the applicant submitted “an amendment of the original
application” naming the tenants as Nigel Harra, Michael Jennings, Sean Lavery, Francis
Martin, Brian Murphy and Alex Ward. These are the current equity partners of the tenant
company.
7. It is the validity or otherwise of the amended tenancy application which is the preliminary
issue to be decided by the Tribunal.
Procedural Matters
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