In re Downer Enterprises Ltd: ChD 1974

The company was the assignee of a lease. The rent appears to have been payable in advance on the usual quarter days. The company went into liquidation in November 1971. At some time before April 1972 the liquidator instructed agents to market the lease and it was assigned to a purchaser in January 1973. Rent had been accruing due since the liquidation.
Held: Sir John Pennycuick V-C said: ‘Given those facts, it seems to me that from the date when he gave instructions to find a purchaser – that is some date in the early spring of 1972 – the liquidator must be treated as having remained in possession of this property with a view to the realisation of the property to the best available advantage, or, in other words, he must be treated as having kept the property in order to sell it or do the best he could with it. It is immaterial, I think, in considering the purpose for which the liquidator retained the property that, having regard to the amount of the rent and the amount which he expected to realise upon a sale of the property, it might have been more advantageous to him and to his trust estate to have realised it at an earlier date.
Given those facts, it seems to me that, applying well established principles, I must hold that Prudential, if it had not been put in funds by Granada, or Schick through Granada, would have been entitled to be paid, as an expense of the liquidation, rent for approximately one year. That would cover the four quarter days at the end of March, June, September and December 1972.’

Judges:

Sir John Pennycuick V-C

Citations:

[1974] 1 WLR 1460

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedKahn and Another v Commissioners of Inland Revenue; In re Toshoku Finance plc HL 20-Feb-2002
A company went into liquidation, being owed substantial sums by another company in the same group, but itself insolvent. A settlement did not include accrued interest, but was claimed to be taxed as if it had, and on an accruals basis. If so, was . .
CitedWright and Another (Liquidators of SHB Realisations Ltd) v The Prudential Assurance Company Ltd ChD 6-Mar-2018
IVA is a special form of contract
Liquidators asked the court whether sums sought by the insolvent company’s landlords were payable and or provable. Under an IVA, the copany had been paying reduced rents, but the arrangement document provided that the full rents would be restored on . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Insolvency, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 12 May 2022; Ref: scu.190100