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The Court of Appeal has reversed a controversial line of case law on the rectification of contracts where both parties are mistaken about a contract’s legal effect, as Oliver Saunders finds out ‘The Court of Appeal conducted a review of the historic case law on rectification beginning with the traditional equitable jurisdiction to correct mistakes …
Continue reading "Rectification of common mistake: Welcome pragmatism"
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With demand for flexible office space on the rise, Mark Shelton considers the best arrangements for sharing space ‘Where the provider of the flexible space is itself a leaseholder, the alienation provisions of its lease are of course of crucial importance. The issues raised are essentially the same as have always arisen where occupiers have …
Continue reading "Flexible office space: Sharing possession or occupation?"
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Warren Gordon summarises current thinking on the validity of e-signatures ‘For a valid execution, the person signing must intend to authenticate the document or deed and any formalities relating to execution must be satisfied.’ The Law Commission issued its report on 4 September 2019 on ‘Electronic Execution of Documents’ in England and Wales. In 2017 …
Continue reading "E-signatures: Law Commission report reviewed"
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Tom Wright provides a step-by-step guide to the intricacies of first registration ‘If your client is willing to bear the cost of registration themselves, it may be best that they take the matter forward by instructing you to register the land.’ Unregistered conveyancing always seems to be passed down to the junior members of any …
Continue reading "Back to basics: Dealing with unregistered land"
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Mark Pawlowski highlights some far-reaching implications arising out of the case law on beneficial ownership ‘The size of the parties’ respective shares upon acquisition will be determined according to the terms of their express trust regardless of their actual contributions to the purchase of the property.’ Let us begin with the following example. Suppose Mr …
Continue reading "Cohabitation: Fair shares in the family home?"
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Can an approved inspector be pursued when recovering damages for a defective building? John Starr investigates ‘The respondent applied to strike out the case against it as disclosing no cause of action on the ground that no duty was owed in law by an approved inspector under s1(1) DPA 1972.’ There can be many parties …
Continue reading "Construction focus: The tale of the approved inspector"
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As the courts continue to grapple with the issue of ‘appropriate assessment’ under the Habitats Regulations, Jamie McKie examines why this area has attracted so much attention and contemplates what lies ahead ‘Ascertaining the proper interpretation of these requirements has led to significant changes to legislation and policy.’ The ability of the planning system to …
Continue reading "Planning update: Appropriate assessment of habitat sites"
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Emma Gosling sets out the timeline on leasehold reform and the government’s latest proposals ‘Ultimately the Select Committee recommends that the government should “ensure that commonhold becomes the primary model of ownership of flats in England and Wales, as it is in many other countries”.’ The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently reported that the …
Continue reading "Leasehold reform: The big picture"
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Mark Shelton considers the intricacies of covenants seeking to limit tenants’ actions ‘Absolute prohibitions usefully give landlords a high degree of control. However, there may be significant disadvantages.’ Landlords typically seek to exercise control over what tenants may do upon a property by provision in the lease that certain things may only be done with …
Continue reading "Absolute prohibitions in leases: Taking control"
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John Starr reviews two recent cases reiterating the courts’ stance on whether a contract exists even where it remains unsigned ‘The courts are reluctant to find an agreement is too vague or uncertain to be enforced where it is found that the parties had the intention of being contractually bound and have acted on their …
Continue reading "Construction focus: Finding a contract"
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