Property giant Peel has lost a multi-million High Court case against another developer, relating to its major Liverpool Waters project.
Romal Capital has built hundreds of residential properties at Liverpool's Central Docks - which is one of the neighbourhoods that makes up Peel's huge Liverpool Waters regeneration project. Romal brought a case against Peel seeking multi-million pound damages as part of a case concerning alleged breaches of an agreement for the lease of land at Central Docks. The land in question adjoins Waterloo Dock.
Romal's case was that Peel had breached a contract between the two parties by making a series of planning applications that conflicted with Romal's proposed housing development, making it significantly harder for Romal to obtain its own planning permission.
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Peel denied wrongdoing and aimed to defend the claim in full in a hearing that began at the High Court Business and Property Courts back in May of this year.
But in a judgement handed down by Mr Justice Fancout today, it was found Peel had in fact been in breach of its obligations in many aspects. The judgement found the property giant did not assist Romal to obtain planning permission as it should have done and did not support Romal's planning application at all.
Instead, the judgement concluded Peel pursued amendments to the outline planning permission for Liverpool Waters which were likely to be of benefit to it in bringing forward other developments on its property, but which made it very difficult for Romal to obtain planning permission for its 646-unit development or the 538-unit alternative development.
The judge said these breaches of contract caused Romal to lose a "real and substantial" chance of obtaining planning application for a 646-unit development.
Mr Justice Fancout said Peel's argument there was no realistic chance of Liverpool City Council's planning committee or a planning inspector granting permission for a larger development was rejected. He said the chance of Romal getting the permission it needed was assessed at 60%.
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In terms of the damages, the judgement said these cannot be calculated yet as while Romal's assessment for the profits it would have made through the development are essentially accepted, there are certain elements of the calculation that are not accepted, with adjustments needed and the parties' experts directed to make these.
Once this has been done, a further hearing will be held to fix the amount of damages to be paid and to decide who bears the costs of the claim.
Reacting to the judgement, a spokesperson from Peel Waters said: "We acknowledge today's judgment and are disappointed with the outcome.
"We remain committed to the successful delivery of Liverpool Waters and will now take time to review the judgment in detail before considering our next steps. Our priority continues to be working collaboratively with partners to bring forward new homes, jobs and investment for the city."