YTREPORP TNACAV
A LEGAL LANDMARK BSIA Vacant Property Protection members, Global Guardians, won an important case which will set a precedent going forward to define status of property owners, guardianship companies and guardians when securing vacant property.
Licence Agreement she had signed when she moved into one of Global Guardians’ vacant properties (owned by an NHS Trust) to ‘protect by occupation’ under the terms of British Standard BS8584:2015. When the property owner wanted the building back, the individual was given due and proper notice to leave under the terms of her Agreement with Global Guardians. However, she refused to go and claimed she had a ‘tenancy agreement’ which conferred certain tenant’s rights to her and that the Licence Agreement she had signed had no proper legal foundation and was ‘a sham’, thereby attempting to sully
CAROLE GRAHAM
the company’s considerable reputation in terms of the way they operated their A unanimous judgement in the Court of
business.
Appeal, announced recently, will set a
The Judges concluded that the guardians had no real prospect of establishing
precedent,
that they were tenants, and the County Court initially hearing the case had
confirms
and, the
more
basis
of
importantly, the
Licence
Agreements under which guardians for Global Guardians operate to occupy and secure properties left in their care by their clients. These clients are many and varied, large and small, public and private, and include a large number of NHS Trusts,
properly ordered that possession be granted to Global Guardians. The Court’s decision (Global 100 Limited v Maria Laleva [2021] EWCA Civ) effectively validates the company’s business model of using Licence Agreements for guardians’ occupancy, and defeated claims by the former guardian and her associates that their occupancy was in reality a tenancy, rather than a licence to temporarily reside in the
London Councils and leading Housing
property. This unanimous decision by Senior Judges in the Court of Appeal not only
Associations.
clarifies a formerly grey area in terms of guardians’ rights, but consolidates Global Guardian’s position as leaders in the field of guardian-based property protection
The case arose when a former guardian
services by taking steps to finally clarify the position, once and for all, in a Court of
refused to comply with the terms of the
Law at the highest level.
22
Spectrum
| Winter 2021
