When a lease on commercial premises comes under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA), the grounds on which the landlord may oppose the tenant’s application for a new lease when the lease expires are limited. One of the grounds…

Whether you are planning to refurbish and sell a house or to construct a whole new apartment block, almost all your plans will be governed by planning laws and any local restrictions. Planning restrictions are more stringent in conservation areas,…

Failing to settle a dispute out of court has cost a group of tenants in Sussex dear in a case decided recently. The dispute arose when a block of flats suffered water penetration. The tenants were obliged to pay for…

Property owners will welcome a High Court ruling on an empty rates relief avoidance scheme. The court held that the temporary storage of documents occupying only a very small percentage of a warehouse's floor space was actual occupation for the…

The High Court has held that the temporary storage of documents occupying only 0.2% of a warehouse's floor space was actual occupation for the purposes of business rates liability. This meant that a new period of empty rates relief applied…

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is consulting on ways of reducing the regulatory burden of the current Listed Building Consent system (LBC). The consultation sets out four options for changing the current system, to reduce the burdens on…

The Lands Tribunal has held that a landlord was unable to recover insurance rent from the tenant because the landlord had not complied with its insurance obligations under the lease. The lease required that the landlord insure the property in…

A recent case in which the owners of a farm faced ruin because their property was saddled with an ancient responsibility to maintain the local church received a great deal of publicity, and has prompted a change in the applicable…