Mesne profits meaning

In this issue: Leasing property Insurance Statutory compliance Residential property Property development Environment, energy and buildings Easements, rights and covenants Commercial real estate finance Property insolvency Property taxes Property in Scotland LexTalk®Property: a Lexis®Nexis community Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers New Q&As Leasing property Non-statutory guidance on high street rental auctions The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has issued non-statutory guidance offering a thorough summary of how to use and deliver High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs), a fresh authority created under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. It sets out a 22–24 week HSRA timetable, from start to finish, describing required stages such as identifying qualifying areas and meeting vacancy and local benefit criteria. The document is aimed at councils tackling empty commercial premises, commercial landlords and their lenders, enterprises and community...

Maile and another v Maile and others [2025] EWHC 2494 (Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? Beyond the judge’s observations on assurances, which he said must amount to clear, binding promises proved by cogent evidence rather than statements liable to differing readings or merely reflecting the testator’s then intentions for the estate, he also found the claimants’ alleged period of reliance to be very brief, and their cross-examination did not demonstrate reliance at all. When, in 2016, they learnt the deceased had altered her Will so the Farm would no longer pass to them, their conduct was unchanged. They continued to farm in partnership with the deceased and went on withdrawing substantial cash from the partnership by way of drawings. The decision is a sharp reminder that, when advising on proprietary estoppel, practitioners should ask whether the person would, in truth, have behaved differently had the assurances never been made. Practitioners should likewise scrutinise the assurances themselves: can they properly be characterised as unequivocal in their...

Original news Farrar v Leongreen Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 2211, [2018] All ER (D) 13 (Jan) As the landlord’s second suit advanced a distinct cause of action from the earlier possession claim, the award of mesne profits was not rendered unlawful by estoppel or any comparable doctrine. The Court of Appeal (Civil Division) therefore dismissed the tenant’s appeal, leaving intact the mesne profits ordered for trespass. What is the significance of this case? Handed down just before Christmas 2017, the ruling in Farrar v Leongreen Ltd confirmed that a property owner may issue separate proceedings: one for possession and another for mesne profits. What is the background to the case? On 21 November 2012, Leongreen Ltd obtained a long leasehold in a flat at Artillery Mansions, Victoria Street, London from a connected company. At that point, Mr Farrar, a former business associate of the directors, was in occupation. He had previously held under a common law tenancy that ended in February 2009, and no rent...

This Practice Note outlines the options open to landowners faced with unlawful occupation by a trespasser or squatter, the issues that can follow from trespass, and the potential measures the owner may pursue, including physical repossession. It considers the Criminal Law Act 1977 (CLA 1977) and the exception for displaced residential occupiers, the use of police powers to arrest where suitable, the effect of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO 2012) in criminalising residential squatting, injunctions and interim injunctions, and damages, including the negotiating damages approach, mesne profits, exemplary and aggravated damages, anticipated damages, and res judicata defences. The ways a landowner can recover possession from a trespasser include: physical repossession arrest of the trespasser by the police for a criminal offence injunction possession claim (including a claim for an interim possession order) Beyond the remedies available to recover possession, a landowner may also claim damages for the trespass. Such claims may involve negotiating damages,...

The Property key future developments tracker monitors significant forthcoming developments of interest to property lawyers. Once a development takes place, it is moved into the archive for the appropriate year. This is the archive for events that occurred in 2017. Appeal cases What happened? When? Find out more Possession proceedings - mesne profits Farrar v Leongreen Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 2211, [2018] All ER (D) 13 (Jan). The Court of Appeal delivered judgment on 21 December 2017. In Farrar v Leongreen Ltd, the Court of Appeal concluded that a landlord who had obtained possession against a former tenant was not, by virtue of res judicata, prevented from issuing a fresh claim to recover mesne profits from that former tenant. The second suit proceeded on causes of action that were distinct from those relied upon in the earlier possession proceedings. The outcome was the same as if the landlord had been unaware that the former tenant had occupied the property as a trespasser during the relevant...

ARCHIVED : This Practice Note has been archived. The rules on interim payments changed significantly from 6 April 2025. For broad guidance on the ramifications of those amendments, and on handling pre‑April 2025 case law, see Practice Note: Interim payments—guiding principles. This Note sets out a selection of leading and/or illustrative decisions concerning interim payments. For assistance with the application procedure and the principles that apply, consult: Practice Note: Interim payments—guiding principles Practice Note: Interim payments—procedure and effect on final judgment Note that the above Practice Notes, and the cases that follow, address interim payments in a non‑personal injury context. For guidance on interim payments in personal injury matters, see Practice Note: Introduction to interim payments in personal injury claims. Case details and analysis Chancery Division (Property Trusts and Probate List) Case: Axnoller Events Limited v Brake [2022] EWHC 1162 (Ch) Judgment date: 18 May 2022 Case summary: A helpful example of the court gauging the...

Particulars of Claim The Claimant holds the [ freehold OR leasehold ] title to the property described as [ insert description of premises ] (‘the Premises’) and is entitled to possession of the Premises. The Defendant is the tenant of the Premises. Under a lease dated [ insert lease date ] between [ insert landlord name ] and [ insert tenant name ] [ and [ insert guarantor name ] ] (‘the Lease’), the Premises were let for a term of [ insert term eg 5 years ] commencing on [ insert term commencement date ] at [ an initial ] rent of £[ insert amount of annual rent ] per annum. The Claimant will refer to the Lease at trial for its full terms and effect. ...