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If you currently receive our content from this site, you would have received a Read More
The High Court has ruled in the recent case of Capitol Park Leeds PLC v Global Radio Services Limited [2020] that a tenant’s attempt to exercise the break in a lease, which was conditional on the tenant giving “vacant possession of the Premises” to the landlord, was not effective after the tenant had removed a Read More
We have previously blogged about the 90-day stay of all possession proceedings until the end of June, which was brought into force by the courts on 27 March 2020 by the new practice direction PD 51Z.
Earlier this week, in the case of Arkin v Marshall, Read More
On 6 May 2020, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the case of Duval v 11-13 Randolph Crescent Limited [2020] UKSC 18. The question considered by the court was whether a landlord of a block of flats could consent to a tenant carrying out works which would amount to a breach of Read More
Property cases do not often make it all the way to the Supreme Court, let alone cases relating to a landord’s refusal of consent under a lease. For that reason alone, the Supreme Court Justices’ decision in the case of Sequent Nominees Limited v Hautford Limited this Autumn is valuable reading. That said, it was Read More
The old saying goes “if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile”, but the Court of Appeal has reaffirmed that an independent expert appointed by parties to make a binding determination in relation to their dispute is not entitled to anything more than that inch. The scope and nature of an expert’s powers Read More
The case of London Kendal Street No3 Limited v Daejan Investments Limited (2019) provides some useful guidance on what a landlord needs to show in order to successfully oppose a tenant’s right to renew its tenancy on the ground that the landlord intends to demolish or reconstruct the tenant’s premises.
A landlord’s right to redevelop Read More
The Court of Appeal has sent a firm message to developers who seek to cut corners by knowingly breaching restrictive covenants. A recent decision means that 13 units of social housing, constructed on land on which building was prohibited, may now need to be torn down.
What happened?
Millgate was a developer that owned land Read More
Japanese knotweed has blighted UK properties for over a century. The invasive plant’s roots and stems spread rapidly and have the capacity to smash through concrete, damaging a building’s foundations. Eradicating the knotweed is another headache entirely. As a result, securing finance on blighted properties can prove to be very tricky.
These issues were at Read More
A management company’s refusal of consent to keep a pet in a flat gives us an opportunity for bad puns and gives landlords ‘paws’ for thought.
After Mr and Mrs Kuehn bought a leasehold flat in East London, only one thing stood in the way of their dream home: a leasehold covenant not to keep Read More
When a tenant wants to assign its lease but needs the landlord’s consent, the law (if not the lease) prevents the landlord from acting unreasonably. The landlord may want to withhold consent or impose conditions, but how does it know whether that is considered reasonable?
Earlier this month the High Court considered this question in Read More
The High Court has granted relief from forfeiture to a tenant 14 months after a landlord exercised his right to forfeit by peaceable re-entry. Whilst delay may ultimately be a decisive factor against granting relief, the Court has a wide discretion in reaching that decision. In this instance, the Court considered it wrong to base Read More
The Supreme Court has clarified that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), an individual’s right to respect for private family life and their home, has no bearing on the court’s decision to grant a possession order against a private sector tenant.
Fiona McDonald occupied her home under an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Read More
Developers should beware of costly penalties for less than scrupulous behaviour when it comes to infringing their neighbours’ rights to light. In the appeal of Ottercroft Ltd v Scandia Care Ltd and anr, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the claimant whose rights to light were infringed by the defendant developers.
The Read More
The decision of the High Court in Vanquish Properties (UK) Limited Partnership –v- Brook Street (UK) Limited provides a stark reminder of the strict requirements for serving a valid break notice and the traps into which the unwary can easily fall.
The case concerned premises on Fenchurch Street, which were originally let by the City Read More
There haven’t been many dilapidations cases to reach the Court of Appeal in recent years, but South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust V Laindon Holdings Ltd has broken that trend.
Laindon was the landlord of purpose-built offices in Basildon, which the Trust had occupied until January 2011. In late 2014, the landlord won damages Read More
The case of Isaaks v Charlton Homes Ltd concerned a lease which incorrectly recorded the demise as a “third floor flat”. In fact, the property was a second floor flat. Surprisingly, this was only discovered several years after grant when the tenant’s lender sought to enforce the security it had and realised that the property Read More
A rare High Court decision on an unopposed lease renewal under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 has underlined the importance of robust and thorough expert evidence – and the dangers of getting this wrong.
Flanders Community Centre Ltd v Newham London Borough Council concerned the lease renewal of a community centre. The tenant first Read More
The Black Ant case relates to the meaning of “further advances” in the context of the anti-tacking provisions in the Land Registration Act 2002. What is tacking and why is the case important?
Tacking is the means by which a lender is able to use its charge to “tack on” (meaning add) any further advances Read More
Landlords have no reason to fear Frankenstein’s monster, following the decision of the High Court in EMI Group Limited v O&H Q1 Limited. The court was considering, once again, the anti-avoidance provisions in the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995. Many will be familiar with the effect of the 1995 Act, which ensures that Read More
The last two months have seen two key appeals in which the court was required to decide whether the tenant of a particular type of building should enjoy the statutory right to acquire the freehold of a house. This right is enshrined in the Leasehold Reform Act 1967.
The properties, and the questions for the Read More
Timeshare owners of Elham House in Canterbury will celebrate a recent High Court decision confirming that you can grant a binding property right (easement) to use facilities such as a golf course, swimming pool or tennis court. Until this decision, it was unclear whether use of leisure facilities could exist as an easement as stringent Read More
In Re Fivestar Properties Ltd, the High Court has decided that a dissolved company which is subsequently restored to the register could have its freehold property re-vested in it, even though the property had passed to the Crown bona vacantia and the Crown had subsequently disclaimed it.
Fivestar, a property development company, entered into Read More
In Spielplatz Ltd v Pearson and another [2015] the Court of Appeal had to decide whether a chalet was a chattel (movable possession) or had become part of the land on which it was situated. The Court decided it was part of the land.
In 1992, the freehold owner of a naturist resort granted an Read More