header-logo header-logo

09 December 2010 / Siobhan Jones
Issue: 7445 / Categories: Features , Landlord&tenant , Property
printer mail-detail

Good Harvest revisited

Feast or famine: Another Good Harvest? Siobhan Jones reports

Nine months have passed since the decision in Good Harvest Partnership LLP v Centaur Services Ltd [2010] All ER (D) 238 (Mar). K/S Victoria Street v House of Fraser (Stores Management) Ltd and Others [2010] EWHC 3006 (Ch) is the first case in which the court has been asked to revisit some of the issues raised in Good Harvest.

Before looking in more detail at the summary judgment decision in House of Fraser, it is helpful to set the scene by way of a brief review of the anti-avoidance provisions themselves and how these were applied in Good Harvest.

The 1995 Act – anti-avoidance

Section 25 of the 1995 Act is a comprehensive anti-avoidance provision which operates to prevent parties to a lease from wriggling out of the central purpose of the 1995 Act. Section 25(1) provides that:

Any agreement relating to a tenancy is void to the extent that:
(a) it would apart from this section have effect to exclude, modify or otherwise frustrate

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
back-to-top-scroll