Andrew Francis welcomes the court’s much-needed clarity on rights of light
- The judgment in Cooper v Ludgate House Ltd resolves novel legal questions, notably excluding light from s 203-designated land in assessing interference, and affirms the Waldram method as the standard for measuring light loss.
- Despite finding actionable interference, the court denied demolition of any part of the Arbor building, instead awarding £3.75m in negotiating damages—balancing public interest, proportionality, and precedent from Fen Tigers and One Step.
- The ruling offers a structured approach to calculating negotiating damages, rejecting ‘ransom’ logic in favour of realistic, evidence-based valuation, and provides a useful ‘sense check’ via alternative capital value loss estimates.
It is a curious coincidence that the recent judgment in a right of light dispute concerns land and buildings in Southwark, London. This arises because the dispute’s location is only a few hundred yards to the west of sites which had been the subject of two important judgments in 1895 and 2023. This part of London is well-known for the Elizabethan playhouses such as the Globe,
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