It would have been hard to miss the saga of the chalet owners in Arnold v Britton & Others as the case climbed from County Court in 2012 to the High Court, Court of Appeal and, last month, the Supreme Court. This was a sorry tale, arising from "wretchedly conceived clauses" (Judge Lord Carnwath's phrase) in chalet park leases. The clauses varied, but all obligated tenants to pay a fixed sum for service charges rather than paying the actual costs of upkeep. The problem wasn't the original fixed sum of £90, but that this would increase by 10% per year (or for some leases, every three years). At worst, this meant compound interest at 10% per year for 99 years. By 2015, the sum had become £2,500 and by 2072, £550,000.
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