December 2016/January 2017 #347 – Law Journals

Service Charges: What is reasonable?

Karl Anders reviews recent case law concerning residential service charges, highlighting key lessons for landlords and tenants ‘Many leases contain sweeper or catch-all provisions, with the aim of enabling a landlord to obtain recovery of charges which are not expressly specified but which the landlord might want to recover from time to time via the …

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Proprietary Estoppel: Down on the farm

Rebecca Cattermole highlights the current position on the doctrine of estoppel in the context of recent case law ‘It was a useful working hypothesis to take a sliding scale by which the clearer the expectation, the greater the detriment.’ The case of Moore v Moore [2016] is the most recent illustration of the treatment of …

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Fraud: Buyer beware

Sonia Ferreira, Karen Jacobs and Tim Constable consider who is to blame if the seller is an imposter ‘In order to provide protection for a buyer, a buyer’s solicitor may wish to seek an undertaking from a seller’s solicitor that it will only release completion moneys upon receiving confirmation that it acts for the true …

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Adverse Possession: Verging on the extreme

Laura Cole and Edward Gamble discuss the best way to deal with squatters ‘Land owners should carry out regular inspections of land, particularly in locations such as vacant units, open spaces or dilapidated premises prone to occupation by optimistic occupiers.’ Although we are all familiar with the concept of squatters, a person can only claim …

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Construction Focus: Caught in the middle

The co-ordination of adjudications on multi-tier projects can lead to conflicts. John Starr reports ‘Parties may now start asking their adjudicator if they have ever been appointed in an adjudication involving the other party.’The universal availability of adjudication as a means of dispute resolution in the construction industry can have potentially serious implications on multi-tier …

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Leases: Let it go

The current vogue for sub-letting has hit a hurdle in the courts. Henry Webb explains ‘While a “private residence” covenant will normally only prevent the Airbnb style of letting, the covenant at issue in Roundlistic is far worse from a purchaser’s perspective, because it effectively prevents any sub-letting at all.’Following the Upper Tribunal’s recent decision …

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Planning Update: Procuring clarity

Mark Bassett examines a case concerning the interaction between real estate transactions and the public procurement rules ‘Holgate J determined that the main object of the agreement was not one which fell within the procurement legislation, and he concluded that there was therefore no breach of the Regulations.’ In August 2016 the High Court gave …

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