Charlotte Payne has recently produced a case analysis for LexisNexis on The ‘successful party’ in multi-element Part 36 offers (Cooper and others v Ludgate House Ltd).
Dispute Resolution analysis: The substantive claim concerned the claimants’ right to light appurtenant to their flats over the defendant’s development site. Following the hearing, the court found in favour of the claimants’ and awarded damages accordingly (but reject the claimants’ claim for injunctive relief). In this case, the court gave guidance on which party was ‘successful’ for the purposes of CPR 44.2 following a multi-element Part 36 offer. The defendants had offered to settle not just in respect of the claimant’s right to light as a result of their development, but also for any statutory claims under section 204 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (HPA 2016), following the future planned development of an adjacent site. Lord Justice Fancourt held that he was not able to confidently estimate what the diminution in the claimant’s flat would be in those circumstances and therefore he could not conclude that the defendant had beaten their Part 36 offer.
