MDM Civil Engineering Limited v Scott Morgan

Facts

RAF Swinderby in Lincolnshire closed in 1993 and its site became the village of Witham St Hughs. A community building known as 'The Ark' stood in a cul-de-sac to the northeast of the village. Rysa Lodge Residential Properties Limited, which has owned much of the former airbase since 2012, sold the Ark site to M&D Homes Limited by a Transfer dated 1 May 2019 for £75,000, the transfer imposing a covenant in paragraph 1 of schedule 3 not to use the property otherwise than as two private dwellinghouses. Two dwellings, 1 and 2 Gray Lane, were duly built; Mr Clive and Mrs Rosamund Bosworth bought no 1 in December 2020, and Mr Scott Morgan bought no 2 on 26 July 2023. Mr Mark Kane, a director of M&D, made three unsuccessful attempts to obtain planning permission for a third dwelling on the undeveloped remainder, two refusals being upheld on appeal by planning inspectors. Title passed on 18 October 2023 from M&D to Mr Kane and then to MDM Civil Engineering Limited, another of his companies. Permission for a third dwelling was finally granted on 16 July 2025, and MDM applied to the Upper Tribunal on 15 September 2025 for modification of the restriction under section 84(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925. Mr Morgan objected.