A tenant has been awarded a refund of more than £18,000 after a wall collapsed at the property he was renting. The court heard that the tenant had signed a two-year lease on a house with no break clause. He paid all the £34,000 rent in advance. After moving in, the tenant contacted the letting
Settling contract disputes through court action doesn’t necessarily mean having to go through a full trial. Often, it’s possible to get a ‘summary judgment’ in which a decision is given in favour of one of the parties if it’s felt the other side has no reasonable chance of success. A recent case before the High
London Underground has succeeded in legal action to prevent a contract dispute with three major suppliers delaying the delivery of new trains. The issue arose when the company conducted a procurement exercise for the manufacture and supply of 94 new trains and equipment for the Piccadilly Line, with options for the supply of additional trains
The High Court has ruled that investors who had been persuaded to place money in a joint venture as a result of deceit should be compensated as if the failed project had not happened. The investment had been undertaken by Kea Investments Ltd, which placed £129m in a joint venture vehicle. The court ruled that
A landlord has succeeded in legal action to prevent a leaseholder letting out his flat on short-term lets using websites such as Airbnb. The landlord was the freeholder of a building which had been converted into flats. Many of the flats had been sub-let by the leaseholders on assured shorthold tenancies, usually for a minimum
Two sisters have been ordered to pay their dead father’s partner £325,000 from his estate, worth approximately £1m. The court heard that James Redmond had made a will 20 years ago leaving everything to his two daughters. However, since making the will he had formed a relationship with Carole Anne Taylor after meeting her at
The government has continued its crackdown on unfair letting fees by announcing that tenants in the private rented sector will no longer be forced to pay excessive fees for minor damages, The announcement is part of the Tenant Fees Bill and is a further measure to bring an end to costly fees imposed by a
Two sisters have been allowed to correct an error in a family trust that would have prevented them from benefiting in the way intended when the document was drawn up. The sisters were aged 58 and 56. When their mother died in 2005, they had inherited equally her 50% share of the house that she
Tenants and leaseholders can now access official guidance on their rights when renting their home. The online rental guides, published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, are part of a continuing crackdown on poor practice by a minority of landlords and agents in the private rented and leasehold sectors. The Citizens Advice
A developer has won the right to build in open countryside despite opposition from the local planning authority. The case involved developer George Barlow and Cheshire East Council. Barlow had applied for planning permission to build 10 houses on open land. The authority failed to make a decision within the prescribed period, so Barlow appealed.