05 December 2014
Cotton v Earl of Cardigan and others [2014] EWCA Civ 1312, [2014] All ER (D) 232 (Oct)
The claimant trustees of the Savernake estate sought the approval of the court for their decision to sell Tottenham House under a conditional contract for sale for £11.25m, which had been concluded following a limited marketing process. The first defendant beneficiary of the trust appealed against two orders which, in effect, approved the sale. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the appeal, held that the judges had been right to approve the claimants’ decision to sell Tottenham House under the intended sale arrangements. The claimants could reasonably have accepted the view that an open market campaign would be risky and undesirable.
