March 2019 #369 – Law Journals

Planning update: Allotments and their protection

Katie Scuoler examines the vital role that allotments play in creating communities of the future ‘The government’s Garden Communities Programme aims to take Ebenezer Howard’s original idea of the garden city, which sought to combine the best of town and country living, and renew this for the 21st century.’ The housing shortage and housing affordability, …

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Construction focus: Let’s agree to disagree

John Starr reviews a case involving an agreement to agree, which highlights the importance of clarity in commercial agreements ‘The Court of Appeal had no doubt that, on their true construction, the relevant provisions of the SPA amounted to an agreement to agree in relation to the further period after the agreed four years and …

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Development: Overage and contractual interpretation

Martin McKeague and Will Cousins analyse recent key cases on the interpretation of overage agreements ‘Mr Biden’s argument was that the overage provision gave him complete discretion as to whether and when to sell the properties and, therefore, whether and when to pay the overage.’ In recent years and months, contractual interpretation, and in particular …

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Leases: Frustrated by Brexit?

Karen Mitchell and Alison Mould discuss an important ruling on whether Brexit would cause a lease to be frustrated ‘Generally, parties to contracts only rely on frustration if there is no other legal avenue available to them, as it is not easy to establish and, unsurprisingly, often arises in only the most unique and complex …

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Practical completion: A question of construction

Nicholas Broomfield considers the decision in Mears v Costplan ‘A “material” defect is not necessarily a breach capable of preventing practical completion or permitting termination of the contract; such a conclusion risks giving rise to “commercial absurdity”.’ Mears Ltd v Costplan Services (South East) Ltd [2018] concerned the development of student accommodation in Plymouth. Mears …

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Conditional development agreements: Digging deeper

Who bears the risk of damage occurring close to completion of a development? Kevin Manley explores the issues ‘The question of what point the risk of damage transfers could be very important. Depending on how the agreement is drafted, damage occurring in either of the gaps before or after practical completion could have a significant …

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Case study: Real estate and public procurement

Mark Bassett reports on the Court of Appeal’s findings in Faraday ‘An arrangement that contains obligations to carry out the development, at any stage, could move the arrangement into the territory of public procurement.’ Those who are involved with public sector regeneration and development projects will be interested to learn about the important developments concerning …

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