Harbour Arch Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Capital Propfund 4 (Pty) Ltd (437/2020) [2021] ZASCA 108 (5 August 2021)
An owner cannot be a lessee of his own land and our law holds that a merger of rights occurs in such an instance. This obvious outcome becomes challenging, however, when it is the sublessee that acquires the leased property, as the enquiry arises whether the merger affects the underlying lease of the land only, or does it include subsequent rights that may exist in terms of a sublease agreement in which the owner of the land (and seller thereof) were not involved.
Our Litigation Team was successful in this Appeal Court judgment where they represented the sublessee.