Rent Review

Article by John Furber, QC Wilberforce Chambers

HMV UK v. Propinvest Limited Partnership [2011] EWCA Civ 1708

The court usually may only give leave for an appeal against an award of a rent review arbitrator if, on a question of law, the decision is "obviously wrong" (Arbitration Act 1996,s.69(3)(c)(i)). Such an error of law should, by its nature, be readily identifiable on a reading of the papers, but the history revealed in HMV UK v. Propinvest Limited Partnership [2011] EWCA Civ 1708 suggests that experienced Chancery judges do not always find it easy to recognise what is, or is not, obvious in the rent review context.

In this case, there was an application for leave to appeal against an award made in July2010. In December 2010, one chancery judge on consideration of the papers, directed an oral hearing of the application (to be heard together with the appeal, if leave was granted). In April 2011, another chancery judge refused the application for leave, after an oral hearing, but granted permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal. In November 2011,the Court of Appeal dismissed that appeal.

As...