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The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal in a long-running dispute over the ownership of six valuable stained glass windows specially commissioned for a prominent café premises. The Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal's decision, concluding that all six windows were integral to the building and therefore belonged to the landlord, not the tenant. The Court found that the evidence failed to show that the tenant paid for or acquired ownership of the windows, and rejected the tenant’s argument that two of the windows (the "Swan Yard" windows) functioned only as ornamental features capable of removal. The Court stressed that, on the available detailed (but incomplete) evidence, the windows had always been part of the premises’ structure rather than tenant’s fixtures, and the tenant’s evidential burden to prove otherwise had not been met. Consequently, the attempted transfer of the windows by the tenant was set aside and all claims by the tenant were dismissed.
landlord and tenant law – fixtures and chattels – ownership of stained glass windows – Supreme Court appeal – burden of proof – Ornamental versus structural elements – evidential insufficiency – lease interpretation – Deasy’s Act 1860 – section 17 Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1860 – trade fixtures – onus of proof – ‘part and parcel’ classification – site-specific works – removal of fixtures
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