Landlord possession claims deferred

The Court of Appeal has given clarity to commercial and residential tenants in its recent judgment in TFS Stores Ltd v BMG (Ashford) Ltd & Ors [2020] EWCA Civ 833 by confirming that all parts of proceedings involving a claim for possession brought by a landlord are automatically stayed.

The stay, imposed initially by Practice Direction 51Z, and now extended to the 23rd August 2020 by the new CPR rule 55.29, applies to all claims (apart from some claims against trespassers) “brought under Part 55”. In the earlier judgment of Hackney LBC v Okoro [2020] 4 WLR 85 the court emphasised that all claims initiated under Part 55 were stayed, even if they were now on appeal.

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