The freehold interest of the property at West Heath Place was acquired by the lessees in July 2017 for £409,600, including costs. The price paid was a factor of 24 times the ground rents payable at that time under each of the 52 leases. Immediately thereafter the company cancelled all future ground rents payable.
On the basis that no ground rents were then receivable by the company the directors considered that the freehold interest had no more than a nominal value. In the circumstances the freehold interest was written down to £52, being the equivalent to the nominal paid-up share capital of the company.