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10 July 2009 / James Naylor , Claire Southway
Issue: 7377 / Categories: Features , Landlord&tenant , Property
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A binding agreement?

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How can landlords guarantee they receive rent payments when insolvency looms? James Naylor & Claire Southway investigate

Can a landlord have its cake and eat it? Or, in the case of Cotswold Company Limited subnom Threadneedle Pensions Ltd v Asher Miller [2009] EWHC 1151 (Ch), can a landlord make a claim under a company voluntary arrangement for future rent, irrespective of an express surrender ending the tenant’s leasehold rights and the right to occupy and use the premises?

The Cotswold Company Limited (the company) was a tenant of retail premises pursuant to a lease (the lease) of 15 years from 7 March 2003 at an initial rent of £100,000 per annum. The lease imposed standard obligations on the company to pay rent and service charge and to keep the premises in repair during and at the end of the term.

On 21 December 2006, the company put forward proposals for a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) under Pt I of the Insolvency Act 1986. By this point the company had vacated the

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