Property Law

Developing land is one way of increasing its value.  However, not all landowners have the expertise or the finance to do that. Landowners can, however, sell their land to a developer and benefit from the increase in the value of the land under an Overage Agreement. An Overage Agreement requires the developer to make a […]

Boundary disputes are a bit like “The ‘X’ Factor”. Emotionally draining for all parties involved, they take a long time to resolve and when the winner is finally announced, most people aren’t that thrilled with the outcome. In fact, sometimes even the winner often wonders whether the whole business was really worth the effort. Everybody […]

Noisy neighbours can be a real problem for those unfortunate enough to have to live next door to them. Going to court to deal with the problem is always a last resort. If you do however need to pursue court proceedings then there are two main remedies available: you can either pursue a claim for […]

A recent case has highlighted the importance of providing accurate replies to Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSEs) and keeping them up to date. CPSEs come in many different guises depending on the particulars of a transaction, but the main and most frequently used beast is CPSE 1; a lengthy set of 32 enquiries which requires […]

In what has been hailed as a landmark judgment, a home owner whose property was affected by Japanese knotweed from neighbouring land has been awarded damages against his neighbour. Japanese knotweed has been described as the UK’s most aggressive, destructive and invasive plant. It has the ability to grow three to four metres during the […]

So, you’ve paid your deposit, collected the keys and moved into your lovely new home. What to do first? Install that white picket fence you’ve always wanted? Maybe buy some chickens to give you some eggs for your Sunday morning soldiers? Or fit a few security cameras around your house to keep an eye on […]

The law of property ownership can be a study in contradictions. On the one hand, almost everyone will rent or buy property in some way during their lives. On the other, the law itself often relies on fairly arcane tenets and distinctions going back hundreds of years. One of the major distinctions the law draws […]

When is a commercial lease surrendered? The question may appear straightforward but as the tenant found out in the recent case of Padwick Properties Limited v Punj Lloyd Limited the answer is not always as simple as it seems. The landlord granted a 21 year lease of an office block to the tenant company. The […]

You’ve just bought a house with the view you always wanted and every day starts with the beautiful sweeping vista. Now fast forward a few years and your neighbour decides to plant a few trees. Not any species of tree however, but fast growing, potentially enormous Leylandii that eclipse the once splendid view so dear […]

The European Convention on Human Rights’ principle relevance to tenants’ rights is enshrined in Article 8, the “right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence.” As with all the rights set out in the convention, the primary intent is to govern the relations between a state and its citizens and so the […]

If A enters into a contract on behalf of A and B but A does not have B’s authority, is the contract still valid?  This was the question which the Court of Appeal had to consider in the recent case of Marlbray Limited v Laditi and another. Mr and Mrs Laditi attended a sales fair […]

Adverse possession is a principle of property law that applies to both residential and commercial property. It is the legal basis on which ‘squatters rights’ can be claimed for land that is occupied by somebody who is not the legal owner of the same. In order to claim adverse possession of the land in question […]