Man Ltd v Back Inn Time Diner Ltd
[2023] EWHC 363 (Ch) · High Court (Chancery, appeal) — Sir Anthony Mann · 2023
The question
Does a landlord need funding fully in place to hold a fixed and settled intention to redevelop?
What was held
Not unconditionally, but the funding route must be realistic. Conditionality is not automatically fatal — it goes into the balance when the court asks whether the scheme has a reasonable prospect of being carried out.
For a landlord
Show the funding pathway even if it is not drawn down: terms sheets, lender correspondence, internal approvals.
For a tenant
Attack funding that is aspirational or wholly contingent — that is where weak ground (f) cases break down.
The provisions this turns on
Apply it to your matter
Read alongside this
Sponsored by McGarrigle & Co
Need professional assistance with your lease?
Case summary for general guidance only, not legal advice. Judgments turn on their own facts and later decisions may qualify them — check the primary transcript before relying on any point in correspondence or proceedings.