Summing up his series on the unfairness of escalating ground rent, Rawdon Crozier proposes a way out of the dungeon
- Could the Housing Act Trap render escalating ground rent a derogation from grant?
Part 1 of this speculative article explained the Housing Act Trap. Part 2 explores whether the trap might render escalating ground rent a derogation from grant and thus, as a matter of law, capable of being struck down.
Rule of law
Megarry & Wade (Law of Real Property, 5th edition) described derogation from grant as a free-standing and independent rule of law, an analysis endorsed by the Court of Appeal in Johnston & Sons Ltd v Holland [1988] 1 EGLR 264. It applies to all forms of grant and, while commonly associated with leases and other contracts relating to land, it is also encountered in contracts concerning: