Ground lease
Supreme Court judgment 24 June 2019, HR-2019-1206-A, (case no. 179157SIV-HRET)
Mallin Eiendom AS, Stiftelsen Karibu (Counsel Carina Orge Borchgrevink Næss) v. Marianne Cecilia Lundin and others (Counsel Anders Christian Stray Ryssdal). Attending in accordance with section 30-12 of the Dispute Act: The State represented by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (The Office of the Attorney General represented by Anders Blakstvedt)
Justices: Indreberg, Møse, Bergsjø, Østensen Berglund, Lindsetmo
In an appraisal to determine new ground rent for a leased property consisting of 54 residential units in connection with an extension of the lease, the lessor claimed a right to increase the rent beyond the maximum in section 15 subsection 4 of the Ground Lease Act, to avoid violation of Protocol 1 Article 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, cf. section 15 subsection 9 of the Ground Lease Act. The maximum entailed that the rent could not be increased under subsection 4 first sentence. The Supreme Court found that the limitations of the Act, after the amendments in 2015, do not entail any disproportionate measure under Protocol 1 Article 1. The Court argued that the legislature had carefully followed up the order from the Europen Court of Human Rights in the Lindheim judgment from 2008. A broad and complex balancing had been made, assessing the economic consequences for both the lessor and the lessee. The judgment also determines that the deduction for value increase under subsection 4 first sentence is also applicable for the plot preparation the first buyers paid for when buying the flats, and that the value must be based on the buildings actually present on the site, and not on a different and more space-efficient exploitation of the same buildings.