Operation of the order for sale would be deferred for 12 months. The defendant husband and wife occupied the property with their two children. The order for sale was made despite the property being the family home, which had been purchased so that the defendants’ children could attend specialist Jewish schools in the area.
The decision reminds practitioners of the principles relating to the priority of charges over title to registered property and the effectiveness of registering a home rights notice where a commercial creditor has a competing interest in the property.
Practitioners advising a spouse or civil partner to register home rights in similar circumstances should advise spouses and civil partners that registration of home rights are unlikely to defeat the interests of a commercial creditor.
(Fred Perry (Holdings) Ltd v Genis and another (unreported) 1 August 2014.)