''James v United Kingdom''

986 Year 986 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * August 17 – Battle of the Gates of Trajan: Emperor Basil ...

is an

English land law English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal ...

case, concerning tenants' (lessees') statutory right to enfranchise a home from their

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple *Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...

er (ultimate landlord) and whether specifically that right,

leasehold enfranchisement A leasehold valuation tribunal (LVT) was a statutory tribunal in England which determined various types of landlord and tenant dispute involving residential property in the private sector. An LVT consisted of a panel of three; one with a backgroun ...

, infringes the freeholder's human rights in property without being in a valid public interest. The plenary session of the court unanimously confirmed that even if it can be shown such enfranchisement deprives a natural or legal person of their "peaceful enjoyment of their possessions" the above procedure is in the public interest and strictly subject to the conditions provided for by the law of England and Wales. The rights are effected (enacted) in pursuance of legitimate social policies and so meet the exception expressly in Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the (European) Convention on Human Rights.1986 ECHR 2
at baillii.org The court clarified on housing policy: "Eliminating what are judged to be social injustices is an example of the functions of a democratic legislature. More especially, modern societies consider housing of the population to be a prime social need, the regulation of which cannot entirely be left to the play of market forces."

Facts

All the trustees of a monetarily vast, multi-property estate passing under the will of

Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, (familiarly " Bendor"; 19 March 1879 – 19 July 1953) was a British landowner and one of the wealthiest men in the world. He was the son of Victor Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, son of the ...

, including

Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster Major General Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, (22 December 1951 – 9 August 2016), was a British landowner, businessman, philanthropist, Territorial Army general, and peer. He was the son of Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of ...

, argued they had been deprived in law of their underlying (reversionary) ownership of about 215 residential properties. They alleged the law of England and Wales contravened their human right to property under

ECHR Protocol 1, article 1 The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically h ...

. Tenants had exercised statutory right to buy outright their long leasehold property converting it to a freehold. In this case expensive property being part of Grosvenor's estates in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

and

Belgravia Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...

in London. They did so as permitted and procedurally governed by the

Leasehold Reform Act 1967 The Leasehold Reform Act 1967c 88 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, which concerns English land law and compulsory purchase. A government bill, the law remains largely intact. It was passed by both Houses and had been tabled by minis ...

. The Act has remained in effect since

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's Second Wilson Ministry. It enables leasehold houses to be converted, without objection, to freeholds (also known as "enfranchised") if the occupier (commonly considered the owner as a matter of practice under English long leases but not in law) follows a procedure. The procedure includes payment of the theoretical value on the market for that freehold (if sold to a third party subject to the remaining occupier's term of years — the lease). The Act seeks to enable lessees to compensate for expensive property loss (or cost of lease renewal) experienced by each lessee over a long period, as in paragraph 13 of the Court's judgment:

"The lease, however, is a wasting asset. As a lease progresses, the value of the tenant’s interest in the property diminishes, whilst the value of the landlord’s interest increases. At the end of the lease, the tenant’s interest ceases to exist and the buildings, including improvements and repairs made, revert to the landlord without any compensation to the tenant."

Judgment

The European Court of Human Rights held the

did not breach the Convention since the Act is within the limits that a national legislature has in implementing social policies.

Notes and references

References

Notes

{{reflist, group=n English land case law European Court of Human Rights cases involving the United Kingdom 1986 in British law 1986 in case law

Facts

Judgment

See also

Notes and references

References

Notes