Residential Property

Pursuing boundary disputes through the courts can be a very costly and stressful exercise. The parties usually end up incurring legal costs disproportionate to the value of the land itself and often end up falling out irretrievably with their neighbour.  In the light of this a new protocol, known as the Protocol for Disputes between […]

Service charges will be familiar to most people holding flats or houses under a long lease.  A leasehold owner owes various obligations to the freeholder (or a management company, where present) as set out in the lease including paying ground rent, contributing towards the insurance of a multi-occupier building and paying service charge, generally, the […]

So, you’ve paid your deposit, collected the keys and moved into your lovely new home. What to do first? Install that white picket fence you’ve always wanted? Maybe buy some chickens to give you some eggs for your Sunday morning soldiers? Or fit a few security cameras around your house to keep an eye on […]

The law of property ownership can be a study in contradictions. On the one hand, almost everyone will rent or buy property in some way during their lives. On the other, the law itself often relies on fairly arcane tenets and distinctions going back hundreds of years. One of the major distinctions the law draws […]

You’ve just bought a house with the view you always wanted and every day starts with the beautiful sweeping vista. Now fast forward a few years and your neighbour decides to plant a few trees. Not any species of tree however, but fast growing, potentially enormous Leylandii that eclipse the once splendid view so dear […]

If A enters into a contract on behalf of A and B but A does not have B’s authority, is the contract still valid?  This was the question which the Court of Appeal had to consider in the recent case of Marlbray Limited v Laditi and another. Mr and Mrs Laditi attended a sales fair […]

Adverse possession is a principle of property law that applies to both residential and commercial property. It is the legal basis on which ‘squatters rights’ can be claimed for land that is occupied by somebody who is not the legal owner of the same. In order to claim adverse possession of the land in question […]

At one point or another, the unfortunate amongst us, have had to put up with noisy neighbours. In the recent case of Cocking -v- Eacott, the noisy neighbour in question was a pet terrier owned by Ms Eacott. Ms Eacott’s neighbours, Mr & Mrs Cocking, complained about the excessive barking of her dog and brought […]

Aside from the future of the NHS, one of the major political causes in the public eye is that of border control. Recent legislation has drafted landlords into this particular battle with the Right to Rent provisions. These were introduced in the Immigration Act 2014 and are in force from 1 February 2016. “Right to Rent” […]

Time is always an important factor in contractual relationships but when time is ‘of the essence’, it becomes critical. Does it matter? ‘Of the essence’ means that something is extremely important – therefore when time is expressed to be ‘of the essence’, it is vital that deadlines are met. You may think that surely it […]