Fairweather v St Marylebone Property Co Ltd [1963] AC 510

Facts

  • Fairweather occupied a property under a leasehold arrangement with St Marylebone Property Co Ltd, who held the freehold (head landlord).
  • After occupying the property, Fairweather claimed adverse possession, arguing the statutory period had extinguished the head landlord's reversionary interest.
  • The central question was whether a tenant's occupation for the statutory period under adverse possession could operate against the head landlord's reversion.
  • The case was ultimately decided by the House of Lords, which examined the interplay between leasehold and freehold interests concerning adverse possession.

Issues

  1. Whether adverse possession by a tenant in possession can extinguish the head landlord's reversionary (freehold) interest in the property.
  2. Whether the statutory requirements for adverse possession apply equally to both leasehold and freehold interests.
  3. Whether mere occupation by a tenant amounts to possession adverse to the head landlord.

Decision

  • The House of Lords held that adverse possession by a tenant does not affect or extinguish the head landlord's reversionary interest.
  • The court found that the tenant's possession, stemming from the lease, is not adverse to the head landlord.
  • Adverse possession is only operative against those in immediate possession (typically the tenant), not the head landlord.
  • The statutory bar on the legal owner's right to recover possession applies only when possession is adverse to them, which was not the case here.

Legal Principles

  • Adverse possession requires both factual possession and an intention to possess the land to the exclusion of all others, including the legal owner.
  • Under the Limitation Act 1980 (and previously the Limitation Act 1939), the occupier must have uninterrupted occupation for 12 years and not acknowledge the legal owner's title.
  • Where possession continues under a lease, it is not adverse to the head landlord unless the possession becomes hostile to both tenant and the head landlord.
  • Adverse possession extinguishes the rights only of the party against whom the possession is adverse; a leaseholder’s occupation does not, without more, extinguish the freeholder's rights.

Conclusion

The House of Lords confirmed that a tenant’s adverse possession does not extinguish a head landlord’s reversionary interest, as such possession is not adverse to the head landlord unless clearly intended and demonstrated to be so. The decision clarifies the separation of interests in leasehold and freehold arrangements and remains a key authority on the limits of adverse possession in English property law.

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