Clarise v Rees

This was a claim to acquire the freehold of a house under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. In 1991, the original tenants were granted a 99-year lease at a modest premium and nominal ground rent of £45 per year. The lease provided for a review of the ground rent at 25-year intervals. The review provision provided that the new rent should be a sum “representing the open market letting value of the land” as if it were a vacant site that had not been built on and which had planning permission for residential development.