Earl makes £100m negligence claim over Bournemouth Airport land deal
06.02.07
Landowner the Earl of Malmesbury has launched a £100m legal action against his former estate agents over alleged negligent advice he received on the lease of land at Bournemouth Airport. The Earl, James Carleton Harris, is suing surveyors Strutt & Parker claiming the firm failed to negotiate rent based on car park turnover at the site.
Strutt & Parker were acting as agents for the Malmesbury Estate in 1995 when they advocated maximising the potential development value of the land adjoining the airport. In 2000 the then airport owners, National Express, needed the fields opposite the terminal building as part of a major expansion of the airfield. At that time Lord Malmesbury, on the advice of his agents, agreed a 25-year lease at an annual rent of just £9,000. The 12 acres of former farmland is now used by the airport for very profitable airport parking.
London's High Court heard how Strutt & Parker said it had the necessary expertise to negotiate leasing terms in what it described as a 'unique opportunity'. But the Earl, the seventh of Malmesbury, said he had been deprived of a realistic income from the site, which was bought by Manchester Airport Groups as part of a £241 million deal including East Midlands Airport in 2001.
Since then, the boom in low-cost flights operated by Ryanair, Thomsonfly and easyJet has seen a four-fold increase in the number of people arriving, departing, and parking at Bournemouth airport, where passenger figures were approaching one million last year.
In January of this year, James Carleton Harris, the seventh Earl of Malmesbury, and the trustees of his estate issued a writ against Strutt & Parker claiming that by failing to negotiate a rent based on car park turnover, the agents deprived the estate of a realistic income from the land.
Strutt & Parker denies liability, causation and the amount of any loss. A preliminary hearing for the action, which is expected to last a month, took place yesterday.
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