Right to occupy terminated by failure to repair

Zas Venture Ltd v Forkner [2016] EWCA Civ 1062, 1 November 2016

Ms Forkner had lived in the property in question all her life. In 2008, when Ms Forkner’s brother sold the property to a company, he made a statutory declaration which stated that Ms Forkner was entitled to occupy the property provided that she maintained and insured it. The property was eventually conveyed to Zas Venture Ltd in 2013, and a surveyor’s report in 2012 identified numerous defects requiring repair. Zas Venture brought a claim for possession on the basis of Ms Forkner’s failure to insure the property or keep it in good repair. Ms Forkner argued that her breaches had been waived, but the trial judge held that since December 2012, the owner had complained of the disrepair and there was no longer a waiver of the continuing breaches.