We have written before on the subject of Landlords’ remedies when there is a pre-pack administration where a new company is formed to buy the viable part of the business and is put into occupation by the administrators without even prior notice to the landlord let alone landlord’s consent.… Continue Reading
The headline-grabbing inheritance tax (IHT) news from last week’s Budget was the introduction, from April 2017, of an additional nil rate band when a residence is passed on death to direct descendants. However this is only one part of the changes that were announced in relation to IHT and residential property, as significant changes were … Continue Reading
Residential landlords of properties in Wales need to be aware of the extra regulatory burden that applies to them and particularly because breach could be a criminal offence. The Welsh Assembly has added an additional layer of regulations which affect private rented residential property in Wales only and which are expected to come into force … Continue Reading
We are finding that some of our clients are shocked by the recent radical changes to the system of court fees. The changes have made larger claims much more expensive to commence. As a result, landlords may lose the settlement leverage that used to be exerted through the issue of a claim and genuine claims … Continue Reading
The Deregulation Act 2015 (the “Act”) is an eclectic mix of legislative tinkering. However, amongst the measures relating to sellers of knitting yarn and trustees of child trust funds are some key provisions that will affect residential landlords. We have already commented in an earlier blog on the provisions contained in the Deregulation Bill intended … Continue Reading
We posted in 2013 on the Regulations that will make it unlawful from 01 April 2018 to let properties with an F or a G EPC rating. These are now in force. There are some time limited exemptions and a few exclusions but now is the time for investors to plan on how they can … Continue Reading
The dust has now settled on the recent cases involving discussion on the continuing AGA, GAGA situation and its inter play with section 25 of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995. The second case has given us just a little bit more certainty about how lease guarantees on an assignment can be made to … Continue Reading
In our post on 20 March we explained the implications of the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 and in particular the need for heat suppliers to register before 30 April 2015. In amendment regulations of yesterday the date for registration has now, thankfully, been put back to 31 December 2015. Minor tidying up … Continue Reading
Are you a developer or landlord of commercial or residential multi-let premises? Are those premises supplied with heat by either a communal heating system or a district heating system?… Continue Reading
The question of how to value a building which is undergoing substantial refurbishment came before the Court of Appeal who ruled yesterday that the Valuation Tribunal had wrongly attributed a rateable value of £1 to offices which had almost all of its internal elements stripped out including the cooling system, all internal and external plant, … Continue Reading
You might have seen some of the recent media coverage of Gordon Ramsay’s court case relating to a personal guarantee given to his landlord that was signed using an “automated pen” operated by his estranged business partner and father in law. A significant sum was at stake given the personal guarantee guaranteed the tenant’s obligations … Continue Reading
National Grid has made its decisions as to eligibility for participation in the first Contracts for Difference auction but the auction process itself has been delayed as some applicants have asked Ofgem to review National Grid’s decisions. However, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, by letter, assured the Select Committee … Continue Reading
More news on break clauses - an important appeal to come on the question of refunding rent for the period after the break and also a new case on whether a break clause could be exercised and then whether it was effective because of patch repairs… Continue Reading
This post was written by Katherine Campbell and Siobhan Hayes. We have just had a reminder that a landlord’s obligation to pay rates can arise when it has the legal right to take possession even though it is careful not to do so. The case in question is Schroder Exempt Property Unit Trust v Birmingham … Continue Reading
There was a surprise announcement in today’s Budget in relation to “high-end” residential property. The government has significantly extended the scope of the SDLT 15% “penal” rate that applies to acquisitions of residential property by non-natural persons (i.e. corporate entities). The 15% rate currently applies to individual residential properties worth over £2,000,000. From midnight tonight the 15% … Continue Reading
This post was written by Katherine Campbell and Siobhan Hayes. We previously posted a short guide to the new commercial rent arrears recovery procedures (‘CRAR’). As CRAR comes into force on 6 April 2014, we wanted to pick out a key issue in how the timing will work. Under the final version of the regulations, it … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Emma Flacks. Judgment in the Court of Appeal case of Pillar Denton v Game Retail– about rent due during the administration of Game was handed down yesterday. It is a landmark ruling for administrators, on the thorny issue of the payment of rent during the period of the tenant’s … Continue Reading
This post was written by Katherine Campbell and Siobhan Hayes Many landlords have used the ancient remedy of distress to apply effective pressure on their tenants to pay their rent in a timely fashion. The threat of the bailiffs at the door often persuades a tenant to pay what is due but that remedy is going … Continue Reading
This post was written by Katherine Campbell. Some positive news for landlords this week: The court has confirmed that, even where an outdated property stands little or no chance of being re-let following a tenant’s departure, a claim for the loss in reversionary value caused by the breach of the tenant’s repairing covenants is still … Continue Reading
The recent trend in Court decisions on conditional break clauses has been in favour of landlords but we have just seen a significant case decided in favour of tenants so that after successfully exercising a conditional break Marks and Spencer (the tenant) were entitled to a refund of the proportion of the rent (paid in … Continue Reading
This post was written by Siobhan Hayes and Katherine A. Campbell. This morning we got the news that HMV had gone into administration and last week it was Jessop that went under. HMV’s administrators are still trading from the stores but the administrators of Jessops have ceased trading. Can their landlords expect their rent?… Continue Reading
This post was written by Katherine Campbell and Siobhan Hayes. Most landlords are reasonably familiar with the rules set out in O’May v City of London Real Property Co Limited. As a result of that case, a landlord cannot introduce changes to lease terms on a renewal where the effect of the change is to … Continue Reading
This post was written by Katherine A. Campbell and Siobhan Hayes. Just a short post to update our previous post on the issue of administrators being obliged to pay rent as an expense of the administration. The recent case of Leisure (Norwich) II Limited v Luminar Lava Ignite Limited has confirmed the judgment in the … Continue Reading
A High Court case reported this week shows how difficult it can be for tenants to operate a conditional break clause in a lease. On the face of it, this looks like a good decision for landlords. In this case, around £130 of default rate interest was overdue at the break date. The lease was … Continue Reading