Planning And Environment Update: Full steam ahead

Meeta Kaur sets out the latest developments in the government’s planning reform agenda The government proposes to remove altogether the requirement to give reasons for the grant of planning permission and summarise policies relevant to that decision. Although January is generally regarded as being one of the darkest and coldest months of the year, this …
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Regulation Watch: Hot off the press

Amanda Howard looks at the latest developments in funds and real estate and practical actions to consider The changes have reduced barriers to entry but have not, in themselves, made the REIT a suitable fund vehicle. The following issues are relevant for all those working in the sector, whether general counsel, adviser, fund manager, investor …
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Secret Commissions: Unauthorised profits

Mark Pawlowski and James Brown consider a recent ruling on proprietary relief for a secret commission acquired by an agent for securing the purchase of a property The difficulty confronting future courts will be to identify which situations fall within the opportunity category identified in Sinclair and which fall outside it. It is trite law …
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Tenant In Administration: Time to sit tight

Landlords should not act too hastily when dealing with tenants in administration. Rachel Watkin explains why While more companies go into administration, we must give some thought to the landlords who are increasingly finding themselves in difficulties. The word ‘administration’ used to mean ‘paperwork’. If someone was an administrator, it would be assumed that they …
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Construction Of Contracts: Unfavourable bargains

A recent case has demonstrated that the courts will not construe a contract so as to re-write an unfavourable bargain, as Nikolas Ireland finds out It is clear that, while the court is able to look elsewhere for assistance in the event of ambiguity in a document, and can correct a document where the parties …
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Overriding Interests: Not on my manor

Kate Symons and Will Hadley give the lowdown on identifying and protecting manorial rights At present, the somewhat unsatisfactory situation prevails that land, both registered and unregistered, may be subject to manorial rights that cannot be ascertained by any publicly available records, and any manorial rights that exist will bind the owner and any purchaser …
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