A building designed as a house but exclusively used as an office is a "house" for leasehold enfranchisement purposes, Lord Neuberger, the Master of the Rolls, has decided.
The owners of big property empires, such as the Earl of Cadogan, have been defeated in their bid to block further erosion of their portfolios by head lessees obtaining new leases under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.
