Articles
How long is too long (part 3)?
April 2nd, 2019
This is the third article on our series on limitation periods. For the first and second parts, please follow the links below: https://www.millschody.com/2018/02/12/how-long-is-too-long-part-1/ https://www.millschody.com/2018/05/06/how-long-is-too-long-part-2/ In circumstances where it is said that reasonable financial provision has not been made, the Inheritance (Provisions for Families and Dependents) Act 1975 (‘the 1975 Act’) gives the court the ability […]
Obligation to re-tender under the Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003 (‘the Consultation Requirements’)
January 21st, 2019
The Consultation Requirements, which were enacted pursuant to section 20ZA(4) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (‘the Act’), require a landlord to consult with leaseholders in respect of qualifying works and qualifying long-term agreements. If a landlord fails to comply with the Consultation Requirements, he is only able to recover £250.00 from leaseholders for […]
Divorce Case Law Update
January 7th, 2019
VW v BH (contested divorce proceedings)(2018) EWFC B68. Divorce is a difficult and stressful process. Divorce trials are thankfully rare; there are only about twenty divorce trials a year from an average 101,669 divorces (2017 figures). The trial Judge said this case, VW v BH, was extraordinary and she was right. It was a long […]
Wigmore Homes (UK) Limited v Sembley Works Residents Association Limited [2018] UKUT 252 (LC)
January 7th, 2019
The Appellant is the owner of multiple flats in a converted office and factory. The building, which now comprises of 33 residential flats has a history of disrepair and service charge arrears. The Respondent, which is owned and managed by some of the tenants of the block, took over the management in 2012. In 2015, […]
Tough times for landlords
September 25th, 2017
Landlords have come under increasing pressure, and this pressure has been ramping up over the last few months with no end in sight. These truly has been a couple of years to forget for landlords and in this article, we consider some of the burdens being placed on landlords and the possible effects of these. […]
Divorce procedure update
November 7th, 2016
Thum v Thum (2016) EWHC 2634 (Fam) On 21st October Mr Justice Mostyn, at the Family Division of the High Court, considered whether a wife had unreasonably delayed serving her divorce petition on her husband. The husband claimed that his wife had done so with the aim of achieving a tactical advantage. Why so? The […]
What is unreasonableness and how can I recover costs in the Tribunal
November 4th, 2016
A commentary on Willow Court Management Company (1985) Limited v Alexander [2016] UKUT 0290 (LC) and the recovery of costs in the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) The power of a Tribunal to award costs is governed by the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (‘the Act’), which provides at section 29 that the costs of […]
Long leases and Air BnB
November 2nd, 2016
Given the rise of short-term lets, particularly as a result of the growing popularity of platforms such as AirBnB, the judgment of HHJ Stuart Brigg in Nemcova v Fairfield Rents Limited [2016] UKUT 303 (LC) is one of some interest. The facts of this dispute were fairly straightforward. The tenant had admitted to letting her […]
Renewal commissions in letting agreements
September 17th, 2015
A recap on the decision in OFT v Foxtons Ltd. Back in 2009, the Office of Fair Trading brought an action against Foxtons in respect of various provisions in the terms and conditions for their letting-only service relating to the payment of commissions. Specifically, the OFT sought a declaration that these terms (payment of renewal […]
Good news for landlords
September 12th, 2015
A comment on the decision in Chaplair v Kumrai [2015] EWCA Civ 798. In the last article that was posted on the subject of collection of service charge arrears, it was suggested that it is becoming somewhat difficult to recover the costs of proceedings instigated to recover service charge arrears when a claim is allocated […]