“41. The next question we have to answer is how this sum should be reflected, if at all, in the valuation. It appears to us that, at the valuation date, when the landlord was not entitled to possession, it has lost nothing by the enfranchisement except the chance of selling the property to a special purchaser at the end of the lease. There is no evidence whatever that the special purchaser, or any other potential special purchaser, was prepared to wait 4.75 years for possession of the mews house or to pay anything now as an additional premium for the right to possession at the end of the lease. What the landlord has in fact lost is the ability in 2009 to sell or let the mews house at a premium over normal market value to the owner of 46 or 47 Wilton Crescent who cannot be regarded as by any means certain to be in the market at that time. That seems to us to be precisely the loss for which the landlord was or should have been compensated under section 9A in the enfranchisement of the main house. In that enfranchisement it was, according to Mr Macpherson’s evidence, compensated for the loss of the ability to combine the main house and the mews house in any way. In other words, it was compensated for the lost additional value of the mews house derived from its valuable proximity to the main house. It has therefore, in our view, suffered no further loss for which it is entitled to receive what would in effect be further compensation now. This approach in our views gives effect to the words ‘subject to the tenancy’ in section 9(1A)(a) of the Act, although we have preferred to approach the issue by asking ourselves what the landlord has lost by the enfranchisement.”
“Held (affirming the decision of Scrutton J [1914] 1 K. B. 339), that on a sale in an ‘open market’ it must be assumed that intending purchasers were aware of the fact that the nurses home was prepared to give a high price for the house, and that its value would thereby be increased; that it could not be assumed that the nurses’ home would only have to make one bid beyond the 750l.; and that, whether the vendor were in fact a ‘willing seller’ or not, the existence of a willing seller must be assumed for the purpose of the sub-section.”
“I can see no ground for excluding from consideration the fact that the property is so situate that to one or more persons it presents greater attractions than to anybody else. The house or the land may immediately adjoin one or more landowners likely to offer more than the property would be worth to anybody else. This is a fact which cannot be disregarded.”
“A value, ascertained by reference to the amount obtainable in an open market, shews an intention to include every possible purchaser. The market is to be the open market, as distinguished from an offer to a limited class only, such as the members of the family. The market is not necessarily an auction sale. The section means such amount as the land might be expected to realize if offered under conditions enabling every person desirous of purchasing to come in and make an offer, and if proper steps were taken to advertise the property and let all likely purchasers know that the land is in the market for sale. It scarcely needed evidence to inform us – it is common knowledge – that when the fact becomes known that one probable buyer desires to obtain any property, that raises the general price or value of the thing in the market. Not only is the probable buyer a competitor in the market but other persons, such as property brokers, compete in the market for what they know another person wants, 6 with a view to a resale to him at an enhanced price, so as to realize a profit. A vendor desiring to realize any land would ordinarily give full publicity to all facts within his knowledge likely to enhance the price. The local conditions and requirements, the advantages of the situation of the property for any particular purposes, and the names of the persons who are probable buyers, would ordinarily be matters of local knowledge to the property brokers and agents and speculators. In order to arrive at the amount which land might be ‘expected to realise,’ all these matters ought to be taken into consideration. ‘Expected’ refers to the expectations of properly qualified persons who have taken pains to inform themselves of all the particulars ascertainable about the property, and its capabilities, the demand for it, and the likely buyers.”
“It is, however, impossible to suppose that the wish of the trustees to buy the house was entirely unknown to those interested in property sales, and if the sale took place, either by auction or through an agent, the willing seller would be careful to see that that fact was made known.”