Clash of rights of operators and landowner rights to redevelop clarified by Tribunal – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 15th, 2019 in landlord & tenant, leases, news, planning, telecommunications by tracey

‘Land owners can prevent telecoms operators installing telecoms equipment on their property if they have a “firm, settled and unconditional intention” of redeveloping the sites the operators have earmarked, and can show that they have a reasonable prospect of being able to carry out their redevelopment plans, a tribunal has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 12th July 2019

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

High Court brings clarity over ‘contracting out’ of leases in statutory declarations – OUT-LAW.com

‘The English and Welsh High Court has clarified the wording to use in statutory declaration when “contracting out” of business lease legislation.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 24th June 2019

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Court of Appeal judgment gives guidance on meaning of ‘practical completion’ – OUT-LAW

Posted May 14th, 2019 in appeals, construction industry, contracts, interpretation, leases, news by sally

‘A Court of Appeal ruling clarifies the meaning of “practical completion”, a common source of dispute between construction contractors and employers.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 13th May 2019

Source: www.out-law.com

Song from under the floorboards – Nearly Legal

Posted May 7th, 2019 in appeals, consent, contracts, covenants, enforcement, housing, leases, news, nuisance by tracey

‘Fouladi v Darout Ltd & Ors (2018) EWHC 3501 (Ch). Although the judgment is dated December 2018, this has just appeared – a case on the perennially vexed topic of noise from a flat above. In fact it is an appeal and cross appeal on a county court judgment and order on a claim by a leaseholder against both the upstairs leaseholder and the freeholder. The reason that the claim was made, reached trial and then appeal might be connected to the value of the claimant’s flat being some £2,400,000.’

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Nearly Legal, 6th May 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Complications of practical completion – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 9th, 2019 in construction industry, contracts, landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

‘Practical completion of works is often the trigger for other events, such as the grant of a lease. In that scenario, a landlord carries out works in accordance with a planning permission and specification pursuant to a building contract. When the works are practically complete in accordance with the building contract, the landlord will grant and the tenant will accept the lease.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 8th April 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Landlord’s access and actually turning up – Nearly Legal

Posted April 5th, 2019 in contracts, landlord & tenant, leases, news by tracey

‘New Crane Wharf Freehold Ltd v Dovener (LANDLORD AND TENANT – clause in lease required tenant to permit the landlord to enter) (2019) UKUT 98 (LC). What counts as “refusing access”, where a landlord has a contractual right to access on notice? This rather odd Upper Tribunal case does at least provide a degree of clarification.’

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Nearly Legal, 3rd April 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

“Practical completion” considered by Court Appeal for first time in 50 years – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted April 5th, 2019 in building law, construction industry, contracts, landlord & tenant, leases, news by tracey

‘It is well known that practical completion is often easier to recognise than it is to define, which is why the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Mears Ltd v Costplan Services (South East) Ltd and others is an important read for construction practitioners.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 29th March 2019

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Leasehold Enfranchisement Claims – Why it is difficult to reach an amicable solution – Tanfield Chambers

Posted March 20th, 2019 in enfranchisement, landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

‘ALEP member Nicola Muir is a senior member of the Tanfield Chambers’ property team. She is a specialist in enfranchisement law and all aspects of landlord and tenant law. In this article she examines the complexity of legislation surrounding landlord and tenant disputes.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 14th March 2019

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Court of Appeal blow for councils over business rates and empty properties – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 14th, 2019 in leases, local government, news, rates by tracey

‘Councils may be left unable to claim some £10m in business rates after Rossendale Borough Council lost a test case in the Court of Appeal over empty properties.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 14th March 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

EU body granted permission to appeal ruling on Brexit and frustration of Canary Wharf lease – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 13th, 2019 in appeals, brexit, EC law, landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

‘A High Court judge has granted the European Medicines Agency (EMA) permission to appeal in a dispute over whether its 25-year lease at Canary Wharf will be frustrated by Brexit.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 11th March 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Council wins Upper Tribunal battle over service charge and replacement central heating – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has ruled that the London Borough of Southwark can recover a service charge for work in a leaseholder’s flat after the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) said nothing was payable.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 7th March 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Property Litigation column: Wednesbury unreasonable and landlords: No.1 West India Quay – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted February 19th, 2019 in appeals, consent, interpretation, landlord & tenant, leases, news, repairs, Supreme Court by sally

‘In property law, discretionary powers are common. Such discretionary powers most often confer, on one contracting party, a discretionary power to grant or withhold consent for such things as changes of use, building, or alterations including the grant of consent. They are frequently found in restrictive covenants and in leases and include, for example, “Jervis v Harris” clauses which allow a landlord, during the term of a lease, to enter the demised premises and carry out works to remedy disrepair. The question of how a Court should approach a challenge to the exercise, under a contract, of a discretionary power is an old chestnut.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 15th February 2019

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

Negligence in Residential Leasehold Conveyancing – Dealing with Protected Residential Tenancies – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted February 19th, 2019 in conveyancing, housing, landlord & tenant, leases, licensing, negligence, news, solicitors by sally

‘This article will look at just one of the (numerous) issues of which transactional solicitors need to be aware when dealing with residential conveyancing: protected residential tenancies. The following samples the chapter on Residential Leasehold Conveyancing in the Law Society’s latest publication: Risk & Negligence in Property Transactions edited by John de Waal QC.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 15th February 2019

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

How much should a residential lease extension cost? – Tanfield Chambers

Posted February 8th, 2019 in landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

‘The need for the reform of landlord and tenant law is now a hot topic. The practice of selling houses on leases or imposing escalating ground rents has fuelled outrage from all quarters and put the spotlight on other areas of residential leasehold law which are long overdue for reform. While the lobbyists are unlikely to achieve their ultimate goal of the abolition of leasehold altogether, it is looking increasingly likely that the law on leasehold enfranchisement will be significantly overhauled.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 30th January 2019

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Costs shake-up proposed for landlord-leaseholder disputes – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 29th, 2019 in costs, enfranchisement, landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

‘Landlords would not be able to recover their legal costs from leaseholders unsuccessfully making ‘right-to-manage’ claims under proposals published by the Law Commission today. The aim is to simplify the process under which leaseholders take over day-to-day responsibility for properties – and to discourage landlords from retaining ‘expensive’ lawyers to fight such claims.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 28th January 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Practically complete or completely impractical? Navigating the pitfalls of what constitutes practical completion – Practical Law: Construction Blog

‘Many a construction dispute turns on defects. A significant subset of those turn on whether the existence of defects prevents practical completion from taking place. It’s not surprising that these situations are contentious: contractors are keen that practical completion is certified so as to avoid or limit their liability for liquidated damages, trigger the return of retention monies and, often, to bring about an assessment of sums they consider due under the final account. Employers may be understandably reluctant to take possession of a property which they consider defective and by resisting practical completion an employer can put pressure on a contractor by withholding sums that would otherwise become due. Practical completion is therefore an important concept in construction contracts, although one that is often not precisely defined, which can cause uncertainty and hinder the operation of the contract.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 23rd January 2019

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Whether Rates Proposal Invalidated by Omission – Local Government Law

Posted January 15th, 2019 in leases, mistake, news, rates, rent by tracey

‘In Alam v Valuation Officer (2018) UKUT 266 (LC) Mr Alam is the proprietor of the restaurant. He took a lease of a Property. His agents submitted a proposal to reduce the rateable value of the Property. In their proposal they stated correctly that Mr Alam was the occupier of the Property but also stated that the Property was “owner/occupied”. The proposal was completed in that way because of a misunderstanding between Mr Alam and his agents. As a result, the agents did not include any information in response to the question “if not owner/occupied, is a rent or licence fee paid?” and, in particular, did not state the rent payable, the date it had first become payable and the date of the next rent review. All of this was information required by Regulation 6(3) of the Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2009 (“the 2009 Regulations”). The issue in Mr Alam’s appeal to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) concerned the consequence of the mis-statement of the capacity in which Mr Alam occupied the Property and the omission of any information about the rent payable. The Valuation Tribunal for England (“VTE”) found that the proposal was invalid, explaining: “… in whatever circumstances to omit the rent from the proposal was a substantial failure to comply with the Regulations. The panel was therefore persuaded that the error was so fundamental that the proposal could not in any circumstances be treated as valid.” ‘

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Local Government Law, 9th January 2019

Source: local-government-law.11kbw.com

Commercial lease renewal: the death of contrived developments – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted December 14th, 2018 in landlord & tenant, leases, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘Alexander Bastin discusses the Supreme Court’s decision in S Franses Ltd v The Cavendish Hotel (London) Ltd [2018] UKSC 62 on whether a landlord can oppose the grant of a new tenancy by relying on section 30 (1)(f) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, if the works which it says it intends to do have no purpose other than to get rid of the tenant.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 7th December 2018

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

Duval v 11-13 Randolph Crescent Ltd and the contingent obligation principle; or ‘What do promises to marry have to do with leasehold covenants?’ – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2018 in covenants, landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

‘In Duval v 11-13 Randolph Crescent Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 2298 the Court of Appeal applied what might be called ‘the contingent obligation principle’ to solve a problem that had arisen between the landlord (11-13 Randolph Crescent Ltd) of two houses that had been converted into 18 flats and two of the lessees, Dr Julia Duval of flats 11G and 11H, and Mrs Winfield of Flat 13.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 29th November 2018

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

Disclaiming Disclaimer – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2018 in abuse of process, bona vacantia, Crown, leases, news by sally

‘When a company is dissolved, all its property and rights (including leasehold property) are deemed to be bona vacantia and accordingly belong to the Crown. Pursuant to s.1013 of the Companies Act 2006, where property so vests in the Crown, the Crown’s title to it may be disclaimed by a notice signed by the Crown representative. By s.1017 of the Act, the court may make an order vesting disclaimed property in a person with an interest in it.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 11th December 2018

Source: hardwicke.co.uk