[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/relief-against-forfeiture-licence\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/relief-against-forfeiture-licence\/","headline":"Commercial Property \u2013 Relief against Forfeiture \u2013 can it apply to a Licence?","name":"Commercial Property \u2013 Relief against Forfeiture \u2013 can it apply to a Licence?","description":"It has long been presumed that only Tenants of leases and not Licensees under a license could obtain relief against forfeiture. The Supreme Court in a landmark ruling in the case of Manchester Ship Canal v Vauxhall Motors Ltd has just overturned this presumption. The case considered whether the court had jurisdiction to grant equitable [...]","datePublished":"2020-03-31","dateModified":"2026-01-26","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/author\/coby\/#Person","name":"coby","url":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/author\/coby\/","identifier":17,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/095b94eeb56f604e46bfd6673afa9194.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/095b94eeb56f604e46bfd6673afa9194.jpg","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"AlexanderJLO London Law","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ajlo-logo.png","url":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ajlo-logo.png","width":460,"height":275}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Commercial-Property-\u2013-Relief-against-Forfeiture.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Commercial-Property-\u2013-Relief-against-Forfeiture.jpg","height":855,"width":1280},"url":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/relief-against-forfeiture-licence\/","about":["Blog","Commercial Property"],"wordCount":412,"articleBody":"It has long been presumed that only Tenants of leases and not Licensees under a license could obtain relief against forfeiture. The Supreme Court in a landmark ruling in the case of Manchester Ship Canal v Vauxhall Motors Ltd has just overturned this presumption.The case considered whether the court had jurisdiction to grant equitable relief from forfeiture. By way of background, in 1962 a licence for the passage of surface water and trade effluent over land owned by the Manchester Ship Canal (MSC) was granted in perpetuity at a sum of \u00a350 per annum. As the interest granted was of indefinite duration, it could not be a lease and was thus characterised as a licence. In 2013 Vauxhall failed to pay the \u00a350 and MSC terminated the licence. By 2018 the value of the licence rights was in excess of \u00a3300,000 per year.Vauxhall applied for relief against forfeiture of the licence. MSC argued\u00a0that the jurisdiction to grant equitable relief from the forfeiture of rights relating to land is limited to rights which amount to a\u00a0proprietary interest\u00a0so that merely possessory rights, and thus, all rights conferred by licences are insufficient. The Supreme Court conceded that \u201cthese are formidable submission\u201d\u2019 but was still willing to find that forfeiture of the licence was permitted.\u00a0The court observed that:\u2018This may be illustrated in this case by the fact that the licence granted rights over MSC\u2019s land very similar to, and indeed more extensive than, rights in the nature of an easement. It is common ground that an easement creates an interest in land, so that its forfeiture may be relieved against. There is no principled reason why the perpetual rights granted by the licence should not do.\u2019At Alexander JLO we have decades of experience of dealing with all aspects of law and will be happy to discuss your case in a free no obligation consultation. Why not call us on\u00a0+44 (0)20 7537 7000, email us at info@london-law.co.uk or get in touch via the contact us button and see what we can do for you?This blog was prepared by Alexander JLO\u2019s senior partner, Peter Johnson on 31st March 2020 and is correct at the time of publication. With decades of experience in almost all areas of law Peter is happy to assist with any legal issue that you have. He is widely regarded as one of London\u2019s leading lawyers. His profile on the independent Review Solicitor website can be found Here  "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Commercial Property \u2013 Relief against Forfeiture \u2013 can it apply to a Licence?","item":"https:\/\/www.london-law.co.uk\/relief-against-forfeiture-licence\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]