Spirit Pub Company (Managed) Ltd v Pridewell Properties (London) Ltd
County Court at Mayor's and City of London, 14 March 2025 (unreported) · County Court at Mayor's and City of London · 2025
The question
Could a landlord oppose a pub tenant's renewal on ground (f) where it planned to build mews houses in the beer garden and convert upper parts to residential — and did it matter that the plan was accelerated to defeat the renewal?
What was held
No. The works were substantial enough and the intention genuine, firm and settled, but the ground failed on objective intention: the landlord had not shown a real prospect of financing the development, offering no evidence of the directors' means or willingness to give personal guarantees. The court also declined to extend the Franses conditionality principle to the timing of works — accelerating the plan to meet ground (f) was not fatal where the landlord intended to build regardless — and accepted 14 months as a reasonable time to commence works on the facts.
County Court decision, persuasive not binding. Reported through chambers commentary (Falcon Chambers, Top 3 Cases March 2025); no neutral citation verified.
For a landlord
Prove funding, not just intention: bank evidence, directors' means and guarantees ready to be produced. Timing-motivated acceleration is not automatically a Franses problem, but an unfunded scheme will lose.
For a tenant
Interrogate the money. Cross-examine on finance, guarantees and planning risk — a genuine plan on paper still fails ground (f) if the landlord cannot show the real prospect of carrying it out.
The provisions this turns on
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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.