Kerry Bretherton QC wins appeal in which it is held that a ‘Property Guardian’ is not a tenant

On 31 August 2018 the High Court handed down judgment in Khoo v Camelot Guardian Management Ltd. [2018] EWHC 2296 (QB)

The county court granted a possession order on the basis that the Guardian Management Scheme constituted a ‘special circumstance’ such that no tenancy was created notwithstanding the grant of exclusive possession.  Dismissing Mr Khoo’s appeal the High Court accepted arguments raised by way of a Respondent’s Notice seeking to uphold the judge on further grounds.  Mr Justice Butcher accepted the arguments by Kerry Bretherton QC, for Camelot that there was no exclusive possession because the contract involved letting the whole of the office accommodation, not the individual room, and because the contract did not confer legal exclusive possession. This case is likely to have wide application and resolves an issue which has been the subject of contradictory first instance decisions.