Cases - TSB Bank plc v Botham
Record details
- Name
- TSB Bank plc v Botham
- Date
- [1996]
- Citation
- EGCS 149
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Commercial property - property management - dilapidations - fixtures
- Summary
-
Each case turns on its own facts; in this particular case the following items were held to be fixtures:
- Bathroom fittings: in every case in which a bath had been fitted or built into the bathroom, the bath would have become a fixture and its taps would, on the face of it, follow suit. Very special evidence would be needed to justify a conclusion that although the bath was a fixture, its taps remained chattels. They were all fixtures.
- Fitted kitchen units: the evidence of photographs and common knowledge of the nature of fitted kitchen units justified the conclusion that the units installed in the flat had become fixtures.
The following were held not to have become fixtures:
- Fitted carpets and curtains: carpets, whether or not fitted, particularly if held only by gripper rods and curtains lacked the quality of permanency that was to be expected of articles that had become (in the eye of the law) part of the property.
- Light fittings: there was no admissible evidence to justify a conclusion that the light fittings had become fixtures.
- Gas fires: the only connection between the gas fires and the property was a gas pipe. Apart from that link, which was essential if they were to be used as gas fires, nothing secured the gas fires other than their own weight.
- White goods: the degree of annexation was slight - no more than was needed to allow normal use. They could be bought separately, by instalments, when ownership did not pass immediately. Disconnection could be done without damage to the fabric of the property and normally without difficulty.