Order for possession made against Defendants at hearing in which they did not attend and were not represented.  The main issue in the case was whether the Defendants had a good reason for not attending the hearing on an application to set aside the possession order under CPR 39.3(3)

The Defendants owned the long lease of a property with ground rent of £20 per annum.  They moved out of the property without providing a forwarding address to the freeholder and failed to pay the ground rent and other charges for a few years.  The freeholder issued forfeiture proceedings which were served by being sent to the property. The Defendants were unaware of the proceedings and did not attend the hearing and a possession order was made in their absence.  On application by the Defendants under CPR 39.3(3) the order was set aside.  It was reinstated following a successful appeal by the Claimant but the second appeal of the Defendants was allowed by the Court of Appeal;  “It is a striking feature of the case that the effect of the decision of Judge Knowles was that an unencumbered leasehold property worth more than £140,000 was forfeited for a debt of £849.21 in proceedings in which the defendants took no part and of which they had no knowledge” – per Dyson LJ.