Leases, tribunals and contractual costs – Nearly Legal

Posted January 10th, 2017 in costs, landlord & tenant, leases, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘The vexed issues of costs in service charge disputes rumble on. Willow Court Management Company (1985) Ltd v Alexander [2016] UKUT 0290 (LC) (our note) set out guidance for how and when rule 13 costs awards will be engaged and awarded in the First Tier Tribunal (for unreasonable conduct). But in this case, the landlord had been awarded 20% of their costs under a Rue 13 decision, but then sought to recover the full costs under a contractual entitlement to costs of an enforcement action under the lease, and sort the FTT’s determination of those as a variable administration charge.’

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Nearly Legal, 9th January 2017

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Works and quiet enjoyment – Nearly Legal

Posted January 5th, 2017 in construction industry, covenants, landlord & tenant, leases, news, noise, rent by sally

‘Timothy Taylor Ltd v Mayfair House Corporation & Anor [2016] EWHC 1075 (Ch). It is a commercial property case, but has interesting elements on the way in which building works may be reasonably carried out.’

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Nearly Legal, 4th January 2017

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

The new era of housebuilding needs new property laws – The Guardian

Posted December 5th, 2016 in enfranchisement, leases, news, rent by sally

‘Leasehold houses aren’t the only problem area – apartment buyers need help too.’

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The Guardian, 3rd December 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Contractual indemnity clauses and costs of service charge proceedings in the First-Tier Tribunal – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted December 1st, 2016 in costs, indemnities, landlord & tenant, leases, news, tribunals by sally

‘A landlord may rely on a contractual indemnity clause in a lease to claim as an administration charge the whole of the costs of service charge proceedings in the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) even where it has already been awarded some of its costs under rule 13(1)(b) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Property Chamber) Rules 2013, as Martin Rodger QC, Deputy President, has held in 87 St George’s Square Management Ltd v Whiteside [2016] UKUT 438 (LC).’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 14th November 2016

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

In residence – New Law Journal

Posted November 22nd, 2016 in covenants, hotels, housing, leases, news, rent, tribunals by sally

‘Tamsin Cox & Julia Petrenko examine a useful authority for freeholders of residential buildings in relation to Airbnb.’

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New Law Journal, 18th November 2016

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Fairhold Freeholds No. 2 Limited v Moody [2016] UKUT 311 (LC) – Tanfield Chambers

Posted November 9th, 2016 in appeals, costs, fees, indemnities, landlord & tenant, leases, news, tribunals by sally

‘The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has held that an indemnity given in a lease can be viewed as a promise by the tenant to protect the landlord from the landlord’s liability to a third party. For the tenant to be liable, the tenant’s breach must be the reason for the landlord’s liability to the third party. In this case, the indemnity was not drafted widely enough to render the tenant responsible for the administrative and legal costs incurred by the landlord once the ground rent had been tendered (even though it was tendered late).’

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Tanfield Chambers, 10th October 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Nemcova v Fairfield (‘the Airbnb ruling’): Stirring up the Hornets’ Nest of Short-Term Lets – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted November 9th, 2016 in appeals, covenants, hotels, landlord & tenant, leases, news, tribunals by sally

‘In Nemcova v Fairfield Rents Ltd [2016] UKUT 303 (LC), in what has become known as ‘the Airbnb ruling’, the Upper Tribunal gave guidance on the circumstances in which short-term lets might amount to a breach of covenant prohibiting the use of a property for anything other than ‘a private residence’. In this article, Jamal Demachkie (who acted for the successful landlord at first instance and on appeal) provides his analysis of this important decision.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 12th October 2016

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Landlord & Tenant – Unlawful sub-letting – Tanfield Chambers

Posted November 9th, 2016 in covenants, landlord & tenant, leases, news, tribunals by sally

‘The Upper Tribunal upheld the FTT’s determination that the lessee had breached a covenant in her lease not to use her flat other than as a private residence by granting a series of short-term lettings of the property. The fact that the lessee had granted the lettings meant that her occupation of the flat was so transient and not sufficiently permanent that she would not consider the property her private residence.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 10th October 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Sinclair Gardens Investments (Kensington) Ltd v Wisbey [2016] UKUT 203 (LC) – Tanfield Chambers

Posted November 9th, 2016 in appeals, costs, landlord & tenant, leases, news, tribunals by sally

‘Solicitors costs of and incidental to the preparation of a counter notice were recoverable under s. 60 LRHUDA 1993. There ought to be some reduction in costs where a landlord was dealing with multiple claims involving the same building.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 1st November 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

If it ain’t broke – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted November 9th, 2016 in landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent by sally

‘The interplay between tenants’ rent obligations and their ability to break the term of their leases has for a number of years been a topic which has been of considerable interest to practitioners advising both either landlords or tenants. Two cases in particular will have been high on the radar in advising clients both before and after the exercise of a break clause.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 12th October 2016

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Denholm v Stobbs [2016] UKUT 288 (LC) (aka “12 Needham Road”) – Tanfield Chambers

Posted November 9th, 2016 in appeals, leases, news, tribunals by sally

‘In a decision which post-dated Sloane Stanley v Mundy, the Upper Tribunal, arrived at relativity by making a deduction from the Gerald Eve graph on the basis that the graph “might overstate relativities” and accepted, on the material before it, that there was a “slight differential between properties in PCL and properties just outside it”.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 1st November 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Airbnb – a wonderful idea or is it? – Tanfield Chambers

Posted November 9th, 2016 in covenants, hotels, landlord & tenant, leases, mortgages, news, nuisance by sally

‘Airbnb seems like a wonderful idea. You can rent out your flat whenever convenient without having to become a full-time landlord or hotelier. It’s an easy way to earn a little extra cash with the added bonus of a world-wide network of other people’s spare rooms available for that well-deserved weekend break. Airbnb now has 60m users, 640,000 “hosts”, 2m listings and 500,000 stays per night. It’s big!’

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Tanfield Chambers, 22nd October 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

The 13th Programme – New Law Journal

Posted September 28th, 2016 in inquiries, Law Commission, leases, marriage, news, surrogacy by sally

‘What should the Law Commission include in its next programme of law reform? Kathleen Shields discusses some options’

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New Law Journal, 15th September 2016

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Airbnb – a quick buck or a catastrophic mistake? – Tanfield Chambers

Posted August 23rd, 2016 in covenants, holidays, housing, internet, landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

‘The last few years have seen short term property letting sites such as Airbnb become the go-to way of booking holiday accommodation in Europe’s most popular cities. Millennial tourists are rejecting stuffy, expensive hotels, preferring instead the flexibility of their own apartment right in the middle of town where, in the words of Airbnb, they can “feel at home anywhere in the world”. In response, those who are lucky enough to own or occupy a city apartment have been quick to meet the demand, with new “hosts” joining the site every day. There are Airbnb kiosks on London’s high streets where tourists can book a property like they used to book a cab.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 5th August 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

County court: restricting sunlight to a tenant’s flat could be breach of leasehold covenant – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 19th, 2016 in covenants, landlord & tenant, leases, news, right to light by sally

‘Development work that restricts natural sunlight to property can in principle be a breach of a ‘quiet enjoyment’ covenant in a lease, even where no formal right to light exists, according to the county court.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 17th August 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

High Court: tenant’s failure to remove partitioning meant no vacant possession – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 11th, 2016 in landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

‘A tenant was unable to exercise a break clause in a commercial lease due to its failure to remove partitioning that it had installed. This meant it had not provided vacant possession of the property, which was required by the lease as a condition of effective exercise of the break clause, the High Court has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 11th August 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

A judge by any other name would smell… much the same – Hardwicke Chambers

‘Did you know that a judge of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) may be able to hear a county court case and vice versa? Under a scheme being piloted at present, such a thing is indeed possible.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 13th June 2016

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Sloane Stanley v Mundy and others – Tanfield Chambers

Posted July 12th, 2016 in housing, leases, news, tribunals, valuation by sally

‘The claims involved the valuation of premiums under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. The UTLC listed three applications for the specific purpose of considering the validity of a hedonic regression model (“the Parthenia model”) to determine leasehold relativity. The Tribunal indicated the approach to be adopted for assessing relativity for different lease lengths and commented on the use of published relativity graphs.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 21st June 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Management Issues at Mixed-Use Developments – Tanfield Chambers

Posted July 12th, 2016 in consultations, covenants, enfranchisement, housing, leases, news, service charges by sally

‘By their very nature, mixed-use developments involve multiple parties with competing interests. This often leads to disputes regarding the management of the estate and the cost of maintaining it and, ultimately, to leaseholders wanting to take control (either by exercising the right to collective enfranchisement or the right to manage).’

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Tanfield Chambers, 10th June 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Stamp Duty Land Tax – Tanfield Chambers

Posted July 12th, 2016 in enfranchisement, housing, leases, news, stamp duty, taxation by sally

‘Does the 3% second home surcharge apply to statutory lease extensions and enfranchisement under the 1993 and 1967 Acts?’

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Tanfield Chambers, 6th June 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk