The High Court recently considered whether a creditor can be a victim to, and obtain relief for, a transaction which is reversed before the claim is even brought and the creditor is put back to the position they were in before the transaction took place.

Timeline

In Arlington v Woolrych, the failure by a junior creditor to gain the prior written consent of senior creditors pursuant to a Deed of Priority rendered the appointment of administrators invalid.

Facts

High Street Rooftop Holdings Limited (the Company) was part of a group of companies known as the High Street Group, which carried on real estate activities such as the development of residential apartments and construction, and the ownership of hotels, bars and restaurants.

On 13 June 2018, the Company entered into a secured term loan facility agreement with Strategic Advantage SPC as lender (the Lender) (the Facility Agreement). Under the Facility Agreement, the Applicant made funding of approximately £100 million available to the Company in tranches.

Facts

Centenary Homes Limited (C) was a property development company which acquired two blocks of flats: one in Enfield and the other in Bloomsbury. The Bank of Scotland (BOS) extended secured finance to C for the development of the two properties.

C defaulted on its repayment obligations in 2012 and fixed charge receivers were appointed in March, when the balance outstanding was approximately £4.4 million.

The receivers were able to sell the Enfield flats in July 2012, for £3,250,000.

But is it GAME over?

Pillar Denton Ltd and Others v Jervis and Others [2014] EWCA Civ 180

Summary – What happened?

A group of the UK's largest landlords have successfully overturned previous High Court decisions that had allowed insolvent tenants to continue trading from their premises without paying rent. The landlords in this case, which involved the retailer GAME, have been allowed to recover £3,000,000 in outstanding rents from the period of the tenant's administration.

In a landmark decision Pillar Denton Ltd and Others v Jervis and Others [2014] EWCA Civ 180, a group of the UK's largest landlords have successfully overturned previous High Court cases that had allowed insolvent tenants to continue trading from their premises without paying rent. The landlords in this case, which involved the retailer GAME, have been allowed to recover £3,000,000 in outstanding rents from the period of the tenant's administration.