Supreme Court restores avoidance finding in Project Blue SDLT case – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 15th, 2018 in news, sale of land, stamp duty, Supreme Court, tax avoidance by tracey

‘A stamp duty land tax (SDLT) claim by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in connection with the purchase of the former Chelsea Barracks in London, worth a potential £50 million, has been restored by the UK Supreme Court.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 14th June 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Interim Sale of the Family Home in Financial Remedy Proceedings – Family Law Week

‘Philip Newton, barrister, Becket Chambers Canterbury considers whether it is possible to obtain an order for sale of the family home before the final hearing.’

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Family Law Week, 23rd May 2018

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Appeal rules against seller’s solicitors in crucial Dreamvar liability case – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted May 16th, 2018 in compensation, conveyancing, fraud, news, sale of land, solicitors by tracey

‘Solicitors representing fraudulent property vendors should share responsibility along with those representing the duped buyers for any resulting losses, the Court of Appeal has ruled in a widely awaited decision.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 15th May 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Businessman illegally raised value of home by chopping down protected trees – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 2nd, 2018 in environmental protection, news, proceeds of crime, sale of land, trees by tracey

‘A wealthy businessman illegally cut down 11 protected trees on his land to give himself a bigger back garden, a court has heard.’

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Daily Telegraph, 2nd May 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Property firm fails in legal action over refusal by council to sell site – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 14th, 2018 in judicial review, local government, news, planning, sale of land by sally

‘Manchester City Council was not obliged to sell a site to a particular buyer simply because of an earlier planning decision, the High Court has found.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 14th March 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Law firm that should have warned property investor clients of “Mafia risk” fails in Supreme Court bid – Legal Futures

‘A law firm with offices in Italy and England has reached the end of the line in challenging a ruling that it was under a duty to warn British and Irish property investors of the risks of investing in a part of Italy associated with organised crime.’

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Legal Futures, 9th March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Home-ownership call for evidence – help make commonhold more common – Law Commission

Posted February 23rd, 2018 in consultations, Law Commission, leases, press releases, sale of land by tracey

‘The Law Commission is asking flat owners, housebuilders, mortgage lenders and lawyers to help shape a law which could help people own their flats outright. The independent legal body wants views on a little-known and little used home ownership status called commonhold, which provides an alternative to residential leasehold.’

Full press release

Law Commission, 22nd February 2018

Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk/

High Court hears judicial review challenge over £2bn development vehicle – Local Government Lawyer

‘The High Court has this week begun hearing a judicial review challenge to the London Borough of Haringey’s decision to establish the Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV), which is said to be the largest local authority development vehicle of its kind.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 26th October 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Government floats referral fee ban and acting for both sides in bid to improve home-buying process – Legal Futures

Posted October 23rd, 2017 in consultations, conveyancing, estate agents, fees, news, sale of land, solicitors by sally

‘A ban on estate agents charging solicitors referral fees along with loosening the restriction on conveyancers acting for both seller and buyer were suggested by the government yesterday as possible reforms to improve the home-buying process.’

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Legal Futures, 23rd October 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Sparks v Biden [2017] EWHC 1994 (Ch) – Tanfield Chambers

Posted October 20th, 2017 in contracts, news, planning, sale of land, time limits by sally

‘A term would be implied into an option agreement, requiring the purchaser/developer of a plot of land to sell the properties that he had newly constructed, within a reasonable period of time, so held the High Court. The clause was necessary as a matter of business efficacy and without it the option agreement lacked commercial coherence. The Court also deemed the clause to be so obvious that it went without saying. (Marks & Spencer PLC v BNP Paribas Securities Services [2015] UKSC 72; [2016] AC 742 considered).’

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Tanfield Chambers, 12th October 2017

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Restrictive Covenants – can I build a house in the garden? – Tanfield Chambers

Posted October 20th, 2017 in enforcement, news, public interest, restrictive covenants, sale of land by sally

‘The lure of profit can make the construction of a new house in the back garden a tempting prospect. Surely with the constant cry for new homes, such development should be encouraged? Unfortunately, even if planning permission can be obtained for the construction of a “starter-home” in the grounds, it is not uncommon to find a restrictive covenant registered against the title which prohibits the erection of more than one dwelling-house on the plot. “Nimby” neighbours can be all too keen to rely on such covenants to try and stop the proposed works.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 12th October 2017

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Transactions in land tax rules: unexpected implications – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 18th, 2017 in budgets, news, sale of land, taxation by sally

‘New ‘transactions in land’ UK tax rules took effect from 5 July 2016. The rules were aimed at larger property developers with the means to implement cross-border structures to avoid UK income or corporation tax.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 17th October 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Couple suing previous owners of house claim Facebook post proves they hid a flooding problem – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 4th, 2017 in damages, documents, home information packs, housing, internet, news, rescission, sale of land by sally

‘A couple whose garden has repeatedly flooded are suing the previous owners, claiming a Facebook photograph proves they were aware of the problem but failed to highlight it.’

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Daily Telegraph, 3rd September 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Cherry Picking – Falcon Chambers

Posted July 6th, 2017 in appeals, contracts, land registration, mortgages, news, sale of land by sally

‘The principles which apply to the construction and interpretation of “ordinary” contracts, are most famously set out in Investors Compensation Scheme and more recently explored in some other cases. Although Wood v Capita appears to indicate a continued trend in the authorities towards a stricter textual analysis, it remains the case that the context in which a contract was agreed, the “factual matrix”, is an important part of the Court’s armoury in establishing meaning.’

Full Story

Falcon Chambers, June 2017

Source: www.falcon-chambers.com

Opposition group crowd funds judicial review of sale of farms by council – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 17th, 2017 in judicial review, local government, news, sale of land by sally

‘An opposition group on Herefordshire Council is seeking to crowd fund a judicial review challenge over the local authority’s decision to sell off its farm estate.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 16th May 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Blockchain technology will be “game changer” in conveyancing – Legal Futures

‘Blockchain-backed ‘smart contracts’ will be a “game changer” in property transactions, increasing certainty for buyers and sellers as well as speeding up the house-buying process, it has been claimed.’

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Legal Futures, 26th April 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Cambridge-educated law lecturer leaves brother ‘homeless’ following £750,000 legal battle to sell shared flat – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 21st, 2017 in costs, documents, families, housing, news, sale of land, undue influence by tracey

‘A Cambridge-educated law lecturer has left his brother homeless – and facing a £200,000 legal bill – after winning a court battle to sell a £750,000 flat bought by the pair with money left to them by their mother.’

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Daily Telegraph, 20th March 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

High Court refuses to strike-out claim against Saudi prince over unpaid interim costs order – Litigation Futures

Posted March 2nd, 2017 in agreements, costs, news, sale of land, Saudi Arabia, striking out by sally

‘A High Court judge has refused to strike-out a claim by a woman who failed to comply with a Court of Appeal order to pay £250,000 in interim costs, on the grounds that it would breach her rights to a fair trial.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 2nd March 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Open Space – Local Government Law

Posted February 22nd, 2017 in local government, news, parks, sale of land by sally

‘One of the issues in Whitstable Society v Canterbury City Council [2017] EWHC 254 (Admin) was whether the notification and consultation proceedings required by Section 123(2A) in relation to open space land owned by a local authority ought to have been gone through in respect of the sale of land owned by the City Council. Dove J held not, notwithstanding that the land had been acquired for development as open space and had not been formally appropriated to any other use.’

Full story

Local Government Law, 15th February 2017

Source: www.11kbw.com

When One Purchaser Signs the Contract for Sale and the Other Does Not … – Radcliffe Chambers

Posted February 21st, 2017 in appeals, contracts, deposits, news, sale of land by sally

‘And indeed never authorised the co-purchaser to enter into a contract on her behalf without her consent, did not know that he was entering into a contract, or consent to his doing so on her behalf. That was the remarkable situation in the case of Rabiu v. Marlbray Ltd [2016] 1 WLR 5147. At first blush one might have thought, in line with the decision in Suleman v. Shahsavari [1998] 1 WLR 1181, that in the absence of the signature of one of the co-purchasers, there was no binding contract and that that would be the end of the matter. So the trial judge concluded, but the Court of Appeal held that on the facts of the case the purchaser who had signed had rendered himself liable as between himself and the vendor of the property, notwithstanding the absence of the signature of his co-purchaser. In so doing it distinguished Suleman. The decision of the Court of Appeal, which runs to 111 paragraphs, considers a number of issues and repays careful study. This casenote will consider the questions of the validity of the contract between the vendor and the copurchaser and the formalities required by s.2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989. A second casenote (to follow) will consider whether, on the assumption that there was no valid contract as between the vendor and the co-purchaser (either because the contract had not been signed by the other co-purchaser, or because of want of the formalities required by s.2), the vendor was required to return the co-purchaser’s deposit or could retain it.’

Part One (PDF)
Part Two (PDF)

Radcliffe Chambers, February 2017

Source: www.radcliffechambers.com