Legal

A clergyman has finally regained possession of his Luton home nearly four years after it was sold without his knowledge, following the eviction of a family living there. Mike Hall ...

Two unmarried brothers, with no children to take over the farm they loved, have been conned into signing over their property by a church minister and local businessman. The three ...

While there are some benefits to making a gift of your family home, there are some potential pitfalls of which you should be aware. Inheritance Tax Avoidance of Inheritance Tax ...

The High Court has wound up three Manchester kitchen companies after an investigation by the Insolvency Service. The business practices of Smart Choice Kitchens Ltd and Empire Kitchens and Bathrooms ...

A moth infestation in a luxury west London home, Horbury Villa in Ladbroke Grove,  sparked an unusual high-profile court case over the eco-friendly insulation. Billionaire homeowners, Iya Patarkatsishvili and Vevhen ...

The UK's property sector is set to undergo some key legislative changes this year, some of which will affect home owners and renters. Many of the changes were announced in ...

A "contrived" attempt at tax avoidance by declaring a pool house as a separate dwelling to a property has been prosecuted by the Inland Revenue. Alexander and Rebecca Clark had ...

It would be fair to say that most people buy and sell property for a price they think is acceptable and finding out that the buyer of your property can ...

In many towns around the UK, you don't have to look far to see neglected kerb sides, pavements and gardens, whether it be from overgrown weeds or garden plants or ...

A pre-trial hearing at The High Court in London has been told that the sellers of a beautiful Berkshire property had sold their home in the knowledge it was riddled ...

Brothers Matty and James Rossiter and Dean Smith filmed themselves bragging about their scam, which involved preying mainly on elderly people. The fraudsters would target people that they perceived to ...

The government has published its Fire Safety Briefing into the fire safety of houses and blocks of flats. We discuss the legislation in England but it should be noted that ...

HMRC has issued fined which total in excess of £1.6 million to estate agents who have failed to register or re-register with them for Anti-Money Laundering (AML). The fine imposed ...

The victims of a cowboy builder have been left "grossly" out of pocket, with unsafe building work carried out in their homes after taking payment in advance. The loft conversion ...

A home owner in Norfolk has been charged with causing criminal damage, following a disagreement over an outside wall built adjacent to the front of his single width driveway. Keith ...

Legislation was introduced after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 which required some building managers to provide information to the fire service. However, few building managers have complied with the ...

In a High Court hearing, planning inspectors have been found to have acted unlawfully when advising West Oxfordshire District Council. Rights Community Action (RCA), a climate group, challenged the decision ...

Dealing with issues to do with buying or selling property or in your current home is a stressful process for most people. So, when communicating by WhatsApp, text, Messenger or ...

Trading standards officers in North Yorkshire have prosecuted a builder over the fitting of ‘potentially unsafe’ fire doors under consumer protection from the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Aztech Building and ...

In Ridgeway v McGuinness, The Ridgeway (Oxshott) Management Company (RO) sought to prevent Emma and Terence McGuinness from replacing their four bedroom single property with two separate dwellings on the ...

Two brothers have been convicted of committing tax fraud while running construction installation companies in Hull. The proceeds of the brothers' fraud amounted to more than £7 million. Father of ...

A claim has been thrown out of High Court because the solicitor mistakenly underpaid the court fee. Barry Roy Peterson and Andrew Charles Blake (the claimants) were the successors in ...

The Welsh Government has published a draft amendment to the Renting Homes Wales Act, which affects the terms of converted contracts and any subsequent renewals that replace them. The Renting ...

A solicitor with over 30 years’ experience has been disciplined for conflict of interest by working with ‘the other side’. John Charles Wright held a management position with the south ...

The ‘rather splendid’ view offered by the viewing gallery at the Tate Modern in London has, after all, been deemed a visual intrusion. High Court judge, Mr Justice Mann, had previously ...

In February 2020, Andrew Smith took on the tenancy of a property, having claimed that he had moved to the area for work. However, less than two weeks after taking ...

An investigation by the National Crime Agency has resulted in the recovery of £4.3 million from two property developer brothers with a 30 year career in the business. The proceeds ...

A recent court decision has concluded that the Party Wall etc Act 1996 did not apply because a Notice under the Act was not served on a neighbour. So how ...

A staggering 30,000 female private property renters in the UK have been offered a rent-free home in return for sex for rent - sexual favours - in just the last ...

Going on to your neighbour's land is sometimes necessary to carry out essential repairs to your property. Consequently, the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992, provides for this with a ...

The Building Safety Act, which overhauls building safety regulation after the Grenfell Tower fire, came into effect on 28th April 2022 and includes some changes that apply to all new ...

The government has now introduced its Homes for Ukraine scheme, under which sponsors are paid directly by the government for housing a Ukrainian family escaping the horrors of their war-torn ...

A few inconsistencies were all it took for a property owner to prevent the fraudulent sale of her home. It was only when the freeholder of her property told a ...

A High Court battle is underway between a widow and her son, her daughter and two stepchildren. Her husband, Patrick Seale, was a correspondent for The Observer and a renowned ...

A conveyancing firm with the ambition to 'simplify moving' has left property purchasers uninformed or abandoned. A cyber security incident has been blamed for property deals breaking down, leaving some ...

A ruling on the unjustifiable invasion of privacy could have implications for home security devices across the country. As an audio-visual technician, Jon Woodard knew what he was doing when ...

Lloyds Banking Group is being taken to the High Court by 150 home owners later this year. The properties were all mortgaged under the bank’s ‘shared appreciation mortgage’ deal, which allowed ...

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has reproached a firm of solicitors in Bradford, Yorkshire, for failing to carry out proper checks on the prospective seller of a property who turned out ...

In Cherwell Development Watch Alliance v Cherwell District Council & Anor [2021] EWHC 2190, the High Court ruling on 30th July has dashed all hopes of preventing the building of 4,400 ...

The National Crime Agency has expressed concerns over the use of cryptocurrency to purchase assets including property in the UK. Cryptocurrency can be used to covertly move funds between people ...

Is the Law Society helping to increase conveyancing fees? The Law Society, in conjunction with InfoTrack and Perfect Portal, has announced the introduction of a new pilot scheme designed to ...

The chairman of the Parliamentary Housing Committee says house builders should be forced to let home owners know when systematic defects might affect their new property. Clive Betts MP said some ...

A long-awaited reform of property law in England has been announced by the Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, including leasehold reform with new rights and protections for leaseholders in England. Properties ...

Magistrates in Salisbury have cleared a builder of health and safety breaches, after a gas explosion at the property on which his company worked. The block of flats was partly ...

The inquiry that follows the June 2017 fire, in which 72 people died at the Grenfell Tower in West London, has highlighted some of the shocking tactics of the management ...

Despite never having been convicted of a crime, a Leeds businessman has handed over 45 properties, and the Poundland brand name, to the National Crime Agency (NCA). The properties handed ...

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that it is investigating four of the UK's largest housebuilders, following what it described as 'troubling evidence' over their methods of selling ...

Sanjiv Varma, who claimed to be a consultant to developer, Grosvenor Property Developers Ltd, has been found guilty of contempt in the High Court for failing to disclose assets and ...

The case against 'No DSS' stipulations stepped up a notch when two mothers recently won out of court settlements against two letting agents. A judge in York County Court ruled ...

Tenants of properties in Stoke on Trent have accused a solar panel company of mis-selling by making Erroneous Transfers. The company worked with the City Council offering free panels with ...

Three multi-million homes in London has been seized as part of the National Crime Agency's Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) powers, or so-called 'McMafia law'. The properties in Hampstead, Chelsea, and ...

The Court of Appeal has rejected Zamira Hajiyeva's appeal against the UK's first Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO), meaning she must now reveal the source of her wealth. She has been ...

The three price-fixing estate agent cartels that colluded to fix fees for letting and selling properties have now been broken up by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Price-fixing results ...

The Treasury has pledged to be working on the removal of barriers to cheaper deals that have trapped 'mortgage prisoners'. However, 150,000 people under the banner 'UK Mortgage Prisoner Action ...

In Sequent Nominees Ltd v Hautford Ltd [2019] the Supreme Court justices have ruled that a freeholder was entitled to withhold consent from a leaseholder who wished to apply for ...

A Nottingham couple have become embroiled in a dispute with their local council over a breach of planning regulations by building in their back garden. Ishitaq Ahmed and his wife ...

A homeowner in Pembroke has complained about her discovery of several restrictive covenants on her property, although she wasn't informed about them when she bought the new build property, even ...

The neighbouring properties of 141 and 141A Dunstans Road in East Dulwich, London, originally formed a single double fronted Victorian home. In October 1983, the home's owner split the property ...

A landlord has installed a locked cover over the Nest thermostat of the shared house she owns in Ealing, London. The move means that hot water and central heating settings ...

Properties and land are often sold if there is a potential for increased value with an overage agreement. Case law has recently addressed the clause that is often used: “detailed ...

The highest penalty ever imposed for a planning offence in central London has been given to a landlord prosecuted by Westminster City Council, who divided his home into flats without ...

The House of Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee has conducted an extensive inquiry into leasehold reform.  This month (July 2019) the government published its response. It seems ...

Four Berkshire estate agents stand accused by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of forming a 'price fixing cartel', exchanging information and fixing commission for their own financial gain. The ...

The Competition and Markets Authority has at long last opened an investigation into the practices of the leasehold property market. The investigation launched on 11th June 2019 follows years of ...

In Wells v Devani [2019], estate agent Mr Devani claimed that commission was payable to him by the vendor, Mr Wells, on completion of the sale of his flats to ...

Landlords of private rented property will soon need to ensure that the electrics in their properties are checked to ensure they are as safe as they ought to be, under ...

Reading Crown Court has sentenced a Langley landlord to a suspended prison term and ordered him to pay over £300,000 for costs and compensation. Talwinder Singh built a block of ...

A crisis on a scale compared to the recent PPI scandal has left home owners and MPs alike wanting answers, as new home owners are being lumbered with annual charges ...

A pub landlady in Stepney, East London has won a landmark victory to prevent people who will live in an unbuilt development from complaining in the future about noise pollution ...

Property owners of the multi-million pound Neo Bankside flats next door to the Tate Modern's £260 million Switch House Building in London have lost their privacy case at the High ...

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has opened investigations into suspected fraud related to three major property developments. Angelgate, Manchester £77 million Pinnacle Angelgate in Manchester was developed by Pinnacle (Angelgate) ...

Manchester Crown Court has sentenced a conveyancing solicitor to seven years in prison after finding him guilty of three offences of money laundering over a period of five years, up ...

A new private members bill has been passed in the Commons, enabling tenants to take legal action if their private or social rented home does not meet the minimum standards ...

What is Party Wall Work? The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 introduced a procedure for the resolution of disputes between owners of neighbouring properties, arising as a result of one ...

In Moore v National Westminster Bank Plc the High Court upheld an award of damages awarded for breach of contract by the lender when it failed to arrange a Home Buyers Report ...

Barclays Bank has reignited the debate on unfair leasehold practices, after refusing to lend against a high profile development in Stratford, in the London Borough of Newham. The main cause ...

In September 2010, Mr and Mrs McHugh sold the home they had built for themselves between November 2004 and December 2007. During the build, the couple lived in another property ...

Business Property Relief is currently denied to businesses that ‘consist wholly or mainly of dealing with securities, stocks or shares, land or buildings, or making or holding investments’, including property ...

In a legal challenge by her former husband, the Supreme Court has ruled that an ex-wife cannot force her divorced husband to increase the amount of maintenance payments simply because ...

Conjoined Appeal in Court of Appeal on Fraudulent Sale of Properties: P&P Property Ltd v Owen White & Catlin LLP ; Dreamvar (UK) Limited v Mishcon de Reya; An Important ...

The terrifying prospect of finding an intruder in your home is fortunately something few of us have to deal with. But with the news this month that 78 year old ...

The Localism Act 2011 gave councils the power to restrict access to social housing. Since the law change became effective, the total number of households on waiting lists in England ...

A recent legal case has highlighted the practices of thousands of letting agents and landlords that discriminate against tenants, in particular women. The case, brought to the county court by ...

In 2016, 98% of flats were purchased 'leasehold' - giving the purchaser ownership of the property for a fixed number of years during which they pay ground rent to the ...

The cost of boundary disputes was highlighted recently in the well publicised case of the London family who lost their £600k home of 31 years to their neighbours, after losing ...

In our article ‘why do we need new homes?’ we identified tax evasion over business rates and council tax by landlords as one of the problems contributing to the current ...

Spring 2018 brings with it changes to Government legislation on Houses of Multiple Occupation and Energy Performance Certificates in rented accommodation. HMO Legislation changes The Government is proposing changes to ...

Environmental campaigner, Emily Shirley, has brought a legal challenge over Canterbury’s adoption of its Local Plan, claiming that the city did not properly consider the impact on air pollution of ...

In an attempt to further address the estimated £24 billion a year 'generated' by organised crime, the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations ...

In January 2016, Oxgangs Primary School in Edinburgh made the news headlines when Storm Gertrude brought nine tons of bricks falling to the ground.  The shocking collapse identified significant defects and a ...

On 20th August this year, while working away from his home in Luton, the Rev Mike Hall was alerted by a neighbour that someone was in his house. He drove ...