March 2014 #319 – Law Journals

Expert Determination: The challenge

Modern day expert determinations are neither simpler nor quicker than any other form of dispute resolution, argue Lisa Jamieson and Will Densham ‘The recent case of Walton Homes Ltd v Staffordshire County Council [2013] brought the spotlight back onto the difficulties a party will face when seeking to challenge an expert.’ Expert determination as a …

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Planning And Environmental Update: Controversial conversions

Matthew Stimson examines the permitted development rights for office to residential conversions and some of the issues and unintended consequences to which they give rise ‘The rights have attracted considerable attention from the development industry and have recently been hailed as a success by Planning Minister Nick Boles MP.’ On 30 May 2013, an amendment …

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Town And Village Greens: Welcome clarification from the Supreme Court

David Shakesby reviews a Supreme Court ruling providing welcome clarification for landowners and developers on rectification of the registers ‘It must be right, in principle, that a bad decision to register land as TVG should not be upheld where there is clear evidence that the decision was wrong.’ On 5 February 2014, the Supreme Court …

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Residential Service Charge Update: Section 20 consultation – where are we now?

Lynn James analyses the consultation and dispensation provisions in s20 and s20ZA in the context of some recent cases, and assesses what this means for landlords and managing agents ‘The controversial decision in Phillips v Francis means that should a landlord consider carrying out a number of separate items of work during the course of …

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Construction Focus: Is your building contract complete?

John Starr discusses the various outside influences that make up a construction contract ‘Building contracts are not designed to be complete, even on their own express terms, still less in respect of outside influences, such as pre-contractual representations, or terms implied by law or otherwise.’ A building contract, like any other contract, is, to an …

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Exclusion Clauses: A costly oversight

Sinéad Esler and Richard Bartle consider clauses that exclude a vendor’s liability for misrepresentation in sale contracts ‘Misrepresentation may constitute an actionable tort in certain circumstances, as well as providing grounds for relief in the law of contract.’ It is common to see clauses in contracts for the sale of land that exclude or restrict …

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Shari’ah Principles: Relevance to real estate

Julia Mirza-Begum provides an overview of the main aspects of shari’ah-compliant commercial property transactions ‘Shari’ah-compliant financing has proved to be an alternative and attractive source of funds entering the European commercial property market at a time when conventional bank funding has been difficult to secure.’ With commercial real estate continuing to provide a popular asset …

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