News & Publications: Landlord & Tenant
Common sense prevails – Francis v Phillips
February 12th, 2015
Francis v Phillips [2014] EWCA Civ 1395 You may recall that in December 2012, in the High Court, a judgment was handed down by the Chancellor in Phillips v Francis [2012] EWHC 3650 (Ch), determining that all of the qualifying works carried out in a given year were to be aggregated, and that the cost […]
What is the scope of the Tribunal’s powers under s20C
August 17th, 2014
What is the scope of the Tribunal’s powers when making an order under section 20C of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985? In SCMLLA (Freehold) Limited [2014] UKUT 0058 (LC), the Upper Tribunal was required to consider the above question, following an appeal from the then LVT. Section 20C of the Landlord and Tenant Act […]
Commercial rent arrears recovery
May 14th, 2014
Historically, a landlord had the common law right of distrain available when a tenant fell into arrears of rent. This was essentially the landlord’s ability to enter leased premises, without notice, to seize the tenant’s possessions and sell them to set off against rent arrears. However, the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 abolished that […]
MacGregor v B M Samuels Finance Group Plc [2013] UKUT 471 (LC)
October 31st, 2013
How far does the jurisdiction of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) extend when dealing with service charge disputes? A comment on the decision in MacGregor v B M Samuels Finance Group Plc [2013] UKUT 471 (LC). The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) recently gave a ruling limiting the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) (“the Tribunal”)’s jurisdiction […]
Don’t be coerced into paying service charges…
September 21st, 2013
Being a residential leaseholder, you are likely to be asked to pay service charges by your landlord on your regular basis. You may consider the service charges to be too high and you should be aware that when you receive a service charge bill from your landlord, you do not necessarily have to accept the […]
Residential leasehold properties – clarification on the consultation requirements for qualifying works
September 16th, 2013
Phillips v Francis [2012] EWHC 3650 (Ch) This recent decision in the High Court updates the law on the consultation requirements for landlords on qualifying works for the purposes of Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (‘the Act’). Prior to this decision, it was considered that Section 20 of the Act only […]
Daejan v Benson [2013] UKSC 14
September 7th, 2013
The recent decision in Daejan v Benson in the Supreme Court has established the scope of the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal’s (LVT) jurisdiction to dispense with the consultation requirements under section 20(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (the Act) and set the principles on how that jurisdiction should be exercised. Under the Act, a […]
Important ruling on tenancy deposits in the Court of Appeal
July 17th, 2013
On 14 June 2013, the Court of Appeal handed down an important decision in Superstrike Limited v Marino Rodrigues [2013] clarifying the position in respect of deposits held on tenancy agreements pre-dating 6 April 2007, but which have subsequently become periodic tenancies. This case concerned a tenancy agreement granted by the landlord for a period […]
An update on service charge and financial hardship
October 8th, 2012
Can a Leaseholder dispute service charge on the grounds of financial hardship? A commentary on the decision in Garside and another v RFYC Limited and another [2011] UKUT 367 (LC) by Ranjeet Johal. This case looks at whether the financial impact of major works on lessees can be a material consideration when deciding whether the […]