Stephen is an Associate in our Commercial Property team. He deals with all aspects of development, leases, sales and purchases, across sectors including retail and leisure. He also works with high net worth residential transactions.
(1) Hertfordshire County Council (2) North Hertfordshire District Council v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government This is an important decision for local people affecting a proposed large scale development near Stevenage. The claimant local authorities challenged the decision of the Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government (SoS) to grant planning… Learn more
Background Any conditions attached to a lease break clause must have been satisfied before one can successfully break a lease. As seen in various cases, such conditions will be strictly construed. NYK Logistics (UK) Ltd v Ibrend Estates BV (2011) The lease permitted the tenant to terminate it on giving the landlord not less than… Learn more
Paddico (267) Ltd v Kirklees Metropolitan Council (1) William John Magee & Thomas Michael Courtney Hardy (2011) The respondents in this case, on behalf of Clayton Fields Action Group, successfully registered a grasslands area known as Clayton Fields as a village green under the Commons Registration Act 1965, on the basis it had been used… Learn more
A local authority is only able to take planning enforcement action if such action is taken within the relevant time limits, otherwise the right is lost. The relevant time periods are: Four years (from the date of substantial completion) in respect of unauthorised building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land… Learn more
The landlord, as the freeholder of a block of flats and shops, gave notice to the leaseholders of the flats of its intention to carry out works amounting to £270,000. The tenants applied to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) for a declaration as to the reasonableness of the charge. The LVT held that the landlord… Learn more
Wimpey Homes and Gloucester Housing Association applied to the Lands Tribunal to modify a restrictive covenant under section 84(1)(aa) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925). The covenant stated that: “….for the benefit of the adjoining land of the vendor on the west and south sides of the land conveyed, that no building… Learn more
In K/S Victoria Street v House of Fraser (Stores Management) Ltd (2010) PLSCS 278, the High Court has recently held that an agreement that required the tenant’s guarantor to guarantee the assignee’s obligations, at such time as the lease was assigned, was void under section 25 of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 (LTCA… Learn more
Residential landlords will no doubt be aware of the provisions of the Housing Act 2004 (“HA”), particularly in relation to the requirement to ensure that any deposit paid by a tenant under an Assured Shorthold Tenancy must be protected by one of two statutory schemes: 1. A custodial scheme under which the deposit is paid… Learn more
The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (“LRHUDA 1993”), as amended by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, allows qualifying tenants in relevant premises the right of collective enfranchisement. This right extends to “common parts” where this is “reasonably necessary for the proper management or maintenance of those common parts” (section 2(3)… Learn more
R (Goremsandu) v London Borough of Harrow [2010] EWHC 1873 (Admin) This case revolves around a landlord’s liability for council tax where the property is a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), and demonstrates that councils are now more than ever keen to recover unpaid council tax. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 provides that council… Learn more