Real burdens

Question 1

Hill of Rubislaw (Q Seven) Ltd v Rubislaw Quarry Aberdeen Ltd

Answer 1

1. The owners of an office building wanted to develop it
2. They entered into an agreement with the neighbouring proprietors, which included a restriction on the net lettable office space within the new development
3. The new landlord was not happy about the restrictions
4. He argued that it was not a praedial real burden as it did not benefit the neighbour’s property (it was a commercial benefit rather than praedial)
5. The court held that this was a praedial real burden
6. The purpose was to regulate the use of the burdened property
7. It also benefited the benefiting property, not just the owners, as it protected the value of the benefiting property

Question 2

Marriott v Greenbelt Group Ltd

Answer 2

1. A residential plot was sold off
2. The green areas in and around the residential properties were disponed to a separate company
3. There was a real burden which required the owners of the residential properties to maintain these green areas
4. Some of them objected and said it was not praedial
5. The court held that it was a praedial benefit because the maintenance of the green areas benefited the communities

Question 3

Castle Street (Dumbarton) Developments Limited v Lidl Great Britain Limited

Answer 3

1. It is common for the owner of a supermarket to have real burdens imposed on neighbouring properties that they not be used as supermarkets
2. The court held that a real burden on a neighbouring property that provided that the property would not be used as a supermarket was not praedial
3. A clause in the deed which stated that “so long as the granter of this disposition is either a proprietor of or occupies the benefiting property (…)” made it a personal benefit, not a praedial

Question 4

Aberdeen Varieties Ltd v James F Donald (Aberdeen Cinemas) Ltd

Answer 4

1. The deed contained ‘the property shall not be used in all time coming for the performance of pantomime, melodrama or comic opera or any stage play which requires to be submitted to the Lord Chamberlain under the Act for regulating Theatres’
2. This was held not to be a valid real burden
3. The deed must contain the full terms of the burden (the ‘four corners of the deed’)

Question 5

Marriott v Greenbelt Group Ltd

Answer 5

1. Although it was held to be praedial, the benefited properties were not described properly
2. The deed must contain a description of the benefited and burdened properties (Marriott v Greenbelt Group Ltd)
3. It must be clear at the time the real burden is created what the benefiting property will be