News & Publications: Landlord & Tenant
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. […]
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 […]
To whom does art belong?
January 13th, 2016
There is an age old question that remains unanswered: does art belong to the artist who created it; to the person who has bought it; or to everyone? In the matter of The Creative Foundation v Dreamland Leisure Limited and others [2015], the High Court had to answer a similar – although not quite as […]
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 […]
Collection of Service Charge arrears
September 5th, 2015
Recovery of costs in the Small Claims Court. A very popular method of collecting service charge arrears is for a landlord to issue a claim in the County Court for damages. On many occasions, the leaseholder will not respond and so a judgment in default is obtained. This can be relied on as a determination […]
Tenancy Deposit Scheme: what are the penalties for the landlord if things go wrong?
June 8th, 2015
Okadigbo v Chan (2014) EWHC 4729 (QB) It is common for the landlord to take a dilapidations deposit at the start of a tenancy as a safeguard in case the tenant causes any damage to the property. The Housing Act 2004 introduced regulations which have, since April 2007, required deposits to be placed in approved […]
The Right to Manage – can an RTM Company manage more than one building?
April 23rd, 2015
The right to manage was introduced by the Commonhold and leaseholder Reform Act 2002, which created the ability for a “right to manage” company (‘RTM company’) to be formed and exercise the management functions contained in the leases, such as insuring the block and collecting service charges. This right is exercisable in respect of a […]
More good news for landlords?
February 19th, 2015
In the recent case of R (Tummond) v Reading County Court [2014] EWHC 1039, an application for judicial review was refused by the High Court. The tenant of a property initially defended possession proceedings brought under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 and his defence had been dismissed. The tenant appealed but was not […]