Verdict

Van den Brug wins court case: canopy of petrol station is not a building

Een dergelijke luifel kent geen huurbescherming, oordeelt de rechter.

The operator of an unmanned petrol station in Drachten has a 15-year lease. The owner of the filling station’s canopy terminates the lease at the end of the term, but the tenant refuses to leave.

The Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal ruled on 19 November in the appeal of the case brought by EG Retail, operator of several unmanned petrol stations, against Van den Brug BV, the owner of the awning and land of an Esso unmanned petrol station in Drachten.

Canopy with petrol pumps

On 1 January 2010, Van den Brug leased the filling station to a legal predecessor of EG Retail. The leased premises included (amongst others) fuel pumps, an underground installation with fuel tanks and pipes, an impermeable floor and an awning. EG Retail installed its own payment pole at the filling station at the start of the lease. The company name and various advertisements were also attached to the canopy, according to the court report.

Lease terminated

Van den Brug, in a registered letter on 7 December 2021, terminated the lease as of the end of term, i.e. 31 December 2024. EG Retail did not agree and went to court. According to the company, it is a building, or a built property. If so, EG Retail would enjoy rent protection and the rent could not be terminated.

The ruling

The District Court of Northern Netherlands ruled 5 September 2023 that the awning of a petrol station is not a building. In doing so, the court relied on a Supreme Court ruling (dated 11 April 2014). This defined a “built property” as “a space accessible to people, covered, wholly or partly enclosed by walls. In this case of the canopy, this does not apply. Perhaps the judgment would have been different if EG Retail had also rented the tank shop with it, but the company did not want that at the time.

The Court of Appeal has now upheld that judgment of the District Court. EG Retail was ordered to pay all legal costs and Van den Brug’s defence costs. It is not yet known whether EG Retail will appeal.

This article was automatically translated from the Dutch language original to English.

Author: Maarten Bokslag

Source: MobilityEnergy.com

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