Hunters succeeds in Upper Tribunal preliminary issue in K & K Property Investments Ltd v Southwark LBC
Partner, David Draisey and Associate, Francesca Turner in our Litigation & Dispute Resolution team represented the successful claimant, K & K Property Investments Ltd, at the hearing of a preliminary issue arising in its compensation claim: K & K Property Investments Ltd. v. Southwark L.B.C. [2026] UKUT 97 (LC).
Clive Moys of Radcliffe Chambers appeared for the successful claimant in the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) on 18 February 2026. The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) judgment is accessible here.
This judgment is significant due to its comprehensive treatment of the statutory term “the register” as it appears in the Land Registration Act 1925, explored in depth at paragraphs 36–50 of the judgment.
By way of background, the acquiring authority (“AA”) confirmed a Compulsory Purchase Order for land fronting Peckham Rye Station. In 2020, the AA issued a general vesting declaration that included 78 Rye Lane, Peckham. The claimant held a registered long (under) leasehold estate in possession of 78 Rye Lane. The AA challenged the claimant’s compensatable interest and its value. The AA advanced the argument that when the concurrent leasehold reversion was registered in 1992, the claimant’s underlease was not entered on the charges register of the concurrent leasehold title. On that basis, the AA contended that the proprietor of the concurrent lease had acquired interest “free” of the claimant’s interest, with the result, according to the AA, that no compensatable interest subsisted and that any such interest was without market value.
In resolving the preliminary issue, the Tribunal determined that, as at the vesting date, the claimant did hold a compensatable interest in 78 Rye Lane. It further held that the proper open‑market valuation of that interest remained unaffected by HM Land Registry’s omission to record the claimant’s lease on the title to the concurrent lease, an error attributable to changes in the title numbers associated with the relevant leasehold estates.