JD Sports Fashion plc v Central Craigavon Ltd
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Neutral Citation | BT/16/2019 (Part 1) |
| Court | Lands Tribunal (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 05 February 2021 |
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/16/2019
BETWEEN
JD SPORTS FASHION PLC – APPLICANT
AND
CENTRAL CRAIGAVON LIMITED – RESPONDENT
PART 1
Re: Units 43 & 44 Rushmere Shopping Centre, Central Way, Craigavon
Lands Tribunal – Henry Spence MRICS Dip Rating IRRV (Hons)
Background
1. JD Sports Fashion PLC (“the applicant”) is the tenant of Units 43 & 44 Rushmere Shopping
Centre, Craigavon (“the reference property”). The applicant occupies the reference property
under a lease dated 3rd October 2008 (“the lease”) which demised the reference property for
a term of 10 years from 18th August 2008.
2. On 31st January 2018 Central Craigavon Limited (“the respondent”) served a Landlord’s Notice
to Determine the lease in accordance with the Business Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order
1996 (“the Order”). The notice proposed the grant of a new tenancy for a term of 10 years
from 18th August 2018 at a rent of £144,000 per annum.
3. On 20th February 2019 the applicant made a tenancy application to the Lands Tribunal. The
application agreed with the 10 year term but proposed a rent of £110,000 per annum. The
applicant has asked the Tribunal to note that there was no start date for the new tenancy
specified in the applicant’s tenancy application.
4. Both parties appointed experts to act on their behalf and in November 2019 the experts
prepared a “Statement of Agreed Facts”. The statement noted that the applicant’s tenancy
application had been submitted out of time, but the parties were “before the Lands Tribunal
to determine the terms to be effective from 18th August 2018”, the date of the respondent’s
Notice to Determine. Thereafter the date of 18th August 2018 was used by the experts to
assess the other terms of the new tenancy, including the rent.
5. Prior to negotiations being finalised, the “Covid crisis” then broke, which the applicant
contended had the effect of seriously depreciating the retail property market, although no
market evidence was submitted to the Tribunal to confirm the applicant’s contention.
6. The applicant was then of the view that any tenancy to be granted had to reflect the property
market at the time the tenancy was being granted and it was not reasonable to expec t the
applicant to pay a 2018 pre “Covid” rent for the grant of a new lease in 2020.
Preliminary Question
7. The parties have therefore asked the Tribunal to decide a preliminary issue as to the correct
date for the new tenancy to commence and consequently the valuation date to assess the
rent under the new tenancy.
8. Under normal market conditions the choice of start date would have minimal impact on the
rent for the new tenancy and this is probably why the issue had not previously troubled the
Tribunal.
9. In the subject reference, however, the Notice to Determine specified a start date for the new
tenancy in August 2018 but the Lands Tribunal reference is being heard in January 2021, in
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