From Top to Bottom – Leasehold ownership of airspace and subsoil. Daniel Gatty, Hardwicke

The answer to the question who owns the airspace above a building or the subsoil below is usually clear cut in relation to freehold land but often less clear in the case of leaseholds.  The High Court has had to wrestle with the latter twice this year, once regarding airspace and once regarding sub-soil.  The Judges in the two cases, Ralph Kline Ltd v Metropolitan and County Holdings Ltd [2018] EWHC 64 (Ch) andGorst v Knight [2018] EWHC 613 (Ch), reached contrasting conclusions, in each case approaching the issue as primarily a matter of construction.  In Gorst v Knight, the court rejected the lessee’s submission that there is no difference between the analysis to be applied to airspace and that to be applied to subsoil.

To download the article click on the link:  Daniel Gatty PLA article June 2018