Helen Sculthorpe explains how the Upper Tribunal has put relativity & professional valuation in the spotlight
The decision of the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) in the appeal of Kosta v The Trustees of the Phillimore Estate [2014] UK UT0 319(LC) ( Kosta ), which was handed down on 7 August 2014, has highlighted the field of professional valuation in the area of enfranchisement and will no doubt provoke some interesting debate.
In its detailed and highly technical decision, arising from a notice served by the appellant under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 to acquire the freehold of a high value residential property in Kensington, the Upper Tribunal considered a new approach to the long standing problem of calculating relativity (explained below).
The background
The notice in question was served in October 2011 when the lease, granted on 16 March 1978 for a term of 86 years commencing on 25 December 1977, had 52.45 years remaining unexpired. The premium payable was to include an element of marriage value, being the uplift in value arising from the joining of the leasehold and freehold interests. In order
