News & Library

Temporary changes to Land Registry procedures

In light of the current Covid-19 restrictions, Land Registry have made a few temporary changes to some of their practices, procedures and policies. These are summarised below. Verification of identity Land Registry will not reject applications where...

Further protection for commercial tenants

As of 24th April 2020, the government has introduced more measures to try and help commercial tenants who are struggling to meet their bills and rent due to the effect of coronavirus.  There will be a temporary ban on the use of statutory...

Bringing possession claims against trespassers during covid-19 stay

As explained in our recent article on the restrictions on recovering possession of residential rental property during the current coronavirus pandemic, a new practice direction to the Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Direction 51Z, was introduced on 27 March...

Residential conveyancing: breach of contract during covid-19 outbreak

With the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak continuing to ricochet through the economy, the process of buying and selling property has never been more stressful for buyers and sellers alike.  Government advice so far has been to encourage the...

Adjustments to 'Right to Rent' requirements

Whenever landlords take on new tenants or lodgers of residential property they must carry out the government’s ‘Right to Rent’ checks so as to ensure that all new occupants over 18 years old are able to legally rent in the UK.  ...

Impact of Covid-19 on breaches of commercial tenancies

As with residential tenancies, the arrival of Covid-19 has resulted in emergency legislation coming into force as regards commercial tenancies to try, in particular, to provide temporary protection for commercial tenants who find themselves unable to pay...

Covid-19 restrictions on recovering possession of residential rental property

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Parliament passed the Coronavirus Act 2020 (the “Act”) on 25 March 2020. Among other things, the Act imposes restrictions, for a temporary period, on landlords’ ability to to recover possession of...

Kathleen Wright v. Sarah Smith - succession on death

This is an interesting and useful decision on succession following the death of a tenant under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986.  The facts are unusual in that the area of the holding is small (1.390 hectares), the applicant (Mrs Wright) was quite...

The legal nature of fish

Recently a case before the High Court has, for the first time, lead to the consideration of the legal nature of fish stock upon the sale of land. In the case of Borwick Development Solutions Ltd v Clear Water Fisheries Ltd [2019] EWHC 2272 (Ch) the High...

Proving a landlord's intention to redevelop

Section 30(1)(f) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 has received a lot of commentary and attention over the past year following the Supreme Court’s decision in S Franses Ltd v Cavendish Hotel (London) Ltd [2018] UKSC 62. Part II of the...

Powers strengthened to revoke water licences

In January 2019 the government consulted on how to improve their management of water in the environment. As part of the consultation they proposed changes to reform water abstraction licensing. In particular, they proposed changes to the conditions under...

Resisting the grant of code rights

The new Electronic Communications Code (the “Code”), which came into force in December 2017, is widely seen to favour the interests of operators over landowners, which is unsurprising given that the policy objective of the Code is to facilitate...

Leases and competition law: can user clauses be overridden?

When negotiating a lease, its effect on competition may not be at the forefront of most landlords’ or tenants’ minds, but a case currently before the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) serves as a reminder of the application of competition law to...

An end to no-fault evictions under Section 21?

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has recently published its response to the government’s consultation last year on longer tenancies, and the proposals have sent shockwaves through the industry because of the...

Interfering with underground water

Interfering with the flow of a stream can cause a nuisance if damage is suffered but the law of surface streams is not applicable to water percolating underground.  Many old private water supply systems on farms benefit from underground water...
  • Page 2 of 12