Judgement was today handed down by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in the case of Regency Villas Title Ltd and others v Diamond Resorts (Europe) Ltd and others [2018] UKSC 57. John Randall QC and Marc Brown, instructed by Shakespeare Martineau to represent the committee of the many members of Regency Villas Owners’ Club and its trust company, learned that by a majority of 4-1 the Supreme Court had dismissed their opponents’ appeal, and allowed their own cross-appeal, in this hard fought case.
John Randall QC commented “When you buy a time-share week or two in the Kent countryside with a view to playing golf, swimming and enjoying a variety of the other recreational facilities available on the neighbouring estate (Broome Park), you do not expect to find yourself a party to legal proceedings in the High Court, never mind the Court of Appeal and ultimately the Supreme Court, with all the risks and uncertainties that litigation inevitably involves.
As the majority judgment states, this is the first time the highest court in our land has considered the extent to which the right to the free use of sporting and recreational facilities provided in a country club environment may be conferred upon the owners and occupiers of an adjacent timeshare complex by the use of freehold easements. The Supreme Court has roundly endorsed this ‘new species of easement’, observing that whatever may have been the attitude in the past to ‘mere recreation and amusement’, recreational and sporting activity of the type exemplified by the facilities at Broome Park is so clearly a beneficial part of modern life that the common law should support structures which promote and encourage it.
The only matter for regret is that the passing of the trial judge, the late and much missed Judge Purle QC, earlier this year has deprived him of the pleasure of reading a Supreme Court judgment which prefers his view of the grant in issue to that of the Court of Appeal.”
The full judgement and press summary can be found here.
For further information, please contact Senior Clerk, Justin Luckman via email or 0121 246 7050.
