header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
04 April 2019 / Rawdon Crozier
Issue: 7835 / Categories: Features , Property
printer mail-detail

Notes on a scandal: freeholders & medieval robber barons (Pt 2)

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Summing up his series on the unfairness of escalating ground rent, Rawdon Crozier proposes a way out of the dungeon
  • Could the Housing Act Trap render escalating ground rent a derogation from grant?

Part 1 of this speculative article explained the Housing Act Trap. Part 2 explores whether the trap might render escalating ground rent a derogation from grant and thus, as a matter of law, capable of being struck down.

Rule of law

Megarry & Wade (Law of Real Property, 5th edition) described derogation from grant as a free-standing and independent rule of law, an analysis endorsed by the Court of Appeal in Johnston & Sons Ltd v Holland [1988] 1 EGLR 264. It applies to all forms of grant and, while commonly associated with leases and other contracts relating to land, it is also encountered in contracts concerning:

  • Intellectual property, eg Gloucester Place Music Ltd v Le Bon [2016] EWHC 3091 (Ch) where the serving of notices by members of
    • 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

    Read All
    Sponsored by
    Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

    Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

    Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

    Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

    Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

    Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

    Blake Morgan—four promotions

    Blake Morgan—four promotions

    Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

    NEWS
    Read All
    NLJ this week: Renters’ Rights revolution begins—brace for tribunal chaos

    The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

    NLJ this week: Civil procedure gets a spring overhaul
    Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
    NLJ this week: Why GP complaints are going nowhere
    Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
    NLJ this week: Prenups meet a jurisdictional brick wall
    A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
    NLJ this week: Has Rylands v Fletcher come back from the dead?
    An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
    Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
    back-to-top-scroll