Property Law

The Live Music Act came into force on 1 October 2012 with the effect that venues in England and Wales with a capacity of less than 200 people no longer need a licence for live music. The Act seeks to remove some of the restrictions on live music put in place by the Licensing Act […]

The Community Right to Bid is part of the Localism Act and came into force on the 21 September. This Act is an attempt to ensure important assets remain in public use and stay part of community life. This could be the village shop, the pub or library. Under the Localism Act, voluntary and community […]

An Equity Release Mortgage allows the over 55’s to take out a mortgage on their  property in return for a lump sum, a lump sum with a further drawdown facility, an  income or a combination of the three. The mortgage is secured against your property and you can continue to live in your property. Equity […]

Squatting in residential premises will become a criminal offence from 1 September 2012. Recent high-profile cases have brought the issue to the forefront including one property reputedly belonging to Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich’s ex-wife, Irina, and more recently in March squatters moved into a property worth £1.6million owned by the infamous footballer Joey Barton. […]

On 10 July 2012, the House of Commons was presented with a Private Members Bill which aims to better control the use of former independent retail stores and public houses as supermarkets. The Bill was presented by Julian Huppert (Lib Dem MP for Cambridge) and will be read by the Commons for a second time […]

The Localism Act, to come into force in April this year, is set to amend the courts’ powers in relation to a landlord’s responsibility to protect a tenant’s deposit by paying into a relevant scheme, and to provide set information about the scheme to the tenant. The Housing Act 2004 set out various penalties for […]

In 2006 the Government introduced Empty House Development Orders (EHDO) with the intention of granting local councils the right to take over houses which have remained empty for more than six months, to bring them back into use. It was envisaged that the scheme would help address the lack of housing available while reducing the […]