Construction focus: Going underground

John Starr examines a TCC case where the court took a surprising stance as to who was responsible for ground conditions ‘The Technology and Construction Court decided that what at first appeared to be a transfer of risk to the sub-contractor did not in fact prevent claims for extensions of time and loss and expense …
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Enfranchisement: Room for reform

Natasha Rees reviews the most important enfranchisement cases of 2018 ‘The case confirms that there is no general proposition that a landlord can refuse consent to assign, alter or change the use of premises on the grounds that it might lead to enfranchisement and loss of the landlord’s interest.’ The government has been busy pursuing …
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2019 in real estate: Future gazing

Rebecca Francis, Colette Krawczyk and Chris Lee take a look at the key areas of development for real estate practitioners for 2019 ‘Decisions in each of these areas will provide for increased market certainty and should help to unlock many of the current issues in dispute between landowners and operators.’ While Brexit is likely to …
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Restrictive covenants: No release permitted

Andrew Ross and Sarah Quy discuss a case where the court emphasised the public interest in honouring private rights ‘The court’s decision indicates that responsible developers should seek release of covenants before developing in breach.’ In November 2018 the Court of Appeal decided in Alexander Devine Children’s Cancer Trust v Millgate Developments Ltd [2018] that …
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Planning: The year ahead

The planning team at Gowling WLG share their predictions for the coming 12 months and what those predictions mean in practice ‘New rules regarding the use of developer contributions towards essential infrastructure are likely to be introduced to achieve the government’s aim of facilitating housing delivery.’ This year is likely to be an unpredictable and …
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Landlord and tenant: The best of intentions

Joanne Wicks QC reports on S Franses Ltd v The Cavendish Hotel (London) Ltd ‘It is established law that to succeed on ground (f) a landlord must show that it has a genuine, firm and settled intention to carry out the relevant works and that it has a reasonable prospect of being able to do …
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