This was a unique and complicated case, in which Dalton Warner Davis were instructed by EE Olley and Sons Ltd, tenants of an industrial site on the Questor Estate in Dartford, to advise on their ground rent review effective in July 2002.

In the 1800’s, the site comprised part of the Dartford Gunpowder Mills. Our clients were granted a 99 year ground lease of the site from the late 1960’s. The lease provided for rent reviews every 33 years.

At the time the lease was granted, the site was crossed by numerous canals and was in an overgrown condition. There were a number of derelict buildings, bridges, sluice gates and other man-made structures on the site. Before our clients could develop the site for use as a sawmill, they had to undertake extensive reclamation and enabling works. Situated in the fluvial flood plain, the site had a history of flooding and part of the initial works included construction of flood protection banks along the River Darent.

The rent review assumptions required that the site should be valued in its original, unimproved state. Finding comparable evidence for the valuation of this unique site involved painstaking research across the whole of South East England. We also assembled evidence of rental uplifts agreed on other sites where there were lengthy rent review patterns. We worked very closely with solicitors on legal issues relevant to the review provisions.

When agreement could not be reached with the landlords as to the level of the new rent, we presented detailed submissions and counter submissions to an independent expert, whose eventual award was heavily in our clients’ favour, showing a reduction of 70% against the landlord’s original asking rent.