By Paul Henson
Many of us suffer from Brexit fatigue these days and those working within the real estate arena tend to focus on how it might affect market sentiment as opposed to it having any legal implications. It is therefore surprising that a “nationally significant case” listed for January 2019 will consider whether
Brexit has ‘frustrated’ a commercial lease.
Frustration is a legal doctrine that provides that a particular frustrating event (in this case Brexit) makes further performance of the contract impossible, illegal or significantly different from that agreed between the parties. The event must be something that neither party contemplated when executing the contract. It is considered a difficult doctrine to prove as British courts will not allow a party to resile from a contract if they have simply
made a bad bargain.
