Pre-Contract Enquiries: Dangers of concealment

Joanne Wicks QC weighs up the best approach to take when pre-contract enquiries are found wanting ‘The difficulty for a buyer which, like Greenridge, discovers that something is wrong just before the contractual completion date, is that it is often not in a position to know whether a statement has been made fraudulently.’ Greenridge Luton …
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Planning Update: Love thy neighbour

Janine Shaw highlights current issues with planning urban extensions ‘It is important that the allocated sites, particularly strategic sites, actually deliver housing as planned. A stalled urban extension can have a big impact on achieving the housing an area needs, and its five-year land supply.’ Steps are being taken to address the housing crisis. On …
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Construction Focus: A costly favour

As a professional the offer of gratis services should be made with care. John Starr explains ‘It can sometimes be easy for something that starts life as informal advice to grow into something more substantial and that is where the professional needs to err on the side of caution and beware.’About a year ago, I …
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Contracts: Brexit-proofed?

Jamie Swan provides a practical guide to safeguarding construction contracts after Brexit ‘Undoubtedly the outlining of potential trigger events for a Brexit clause will require an understanding of the project and real consideration as to the events that would be likely to cause issue.’ Since the referendum of June 2016 called for an end to …
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Infrastructure Act 2015: Free to frack?

Paul Stafford examines the consequences of the Act for landowners, including the significant loss of common law rights ‘If the landowner must spend money taking steps to prevent loss or damage to another, they will not be liable if that loss or damage occurs and they have not taken those steps.’The Infrastructure Act 2015 (the …
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Conveyancing: Keep it under review

Caroline Green and David Harris discuss the effectiveness of non-reliance clauses and the liability of trustees when a contract is disputed ‘The case shows both the care needed generally when giving replies to pre-contract enquiries and the importance of not saying more than is absolutely necessary.’The case of First Tower Trustees Ltd v CDS (Superstores …
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Commercial Tenant Insolvency: A question of semantics

Can a notice of intention to appoint an administrator be filed without any administrator being appointed? Joe Walker investigates the outcome for landlords ‘The giving and filing of a notice of intention to appoint (NOI) by the company or its directors, and the interim moratorium that automatically arises as a result, has a limited and …
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