Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
House prices in the UK rose by 4.1% in the year to March, taking the average property value to £215,847. However, the monthly figure between February and March dropped by 0.6%. The number of sales has remained stable for the last three months, but in the year to January there was a substantial fall in
A mother who was sacked because her employers felt that caring for her daughter was more important to her than her job has been awarded £18,886 in compensation. Maria McKeith started working part-time for the Ardoyne Association in Northern Ireland in 2010 while also acting as primary carer for her daughter. She was dismissed in
Nearly 260,000 people have bought their home using Help to buy schemes and more than 870,000 have opened a Help to Buy ISA. The latest figures issued by the government show that: over 259,000 completions have taken place using one or more of the Help to Buy schemes, most of these are first-time buyers more
A family have been told they cannot make a claim on their stepmother’s estate following the death of her husband. The case involved a couple who died within a few months of each other. The wife had an estate worth more than £26m, while the husband’s estate was valued at £320,000. Both partners had children
Jaguar Land Rover has been ordered to pay £19,000 compensation to a black employee who was subjected to racist slurs by staff and management. Mr Paul Hoyte claimed he had regularly suffered abuse and harassment because of his race and disabilities. The Employment Tribunal was told that Mr Hoyte suffered from depression, anxiety and irritable
The High Court has allowed Bombardier Transportation to examine confidential documents after it alleged that it had been treated unfairly in a public procurement exercise. The issue arose after the company failed to win a £460m contract to supply trains to Merseytravel. The court heard that such contracts attracted the same group of tenderers, who
A landlord has lost a dispute with his local housing authority over the licensing of two of his properties that had been renovated without planning permission. The issue arose out of Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004, which provided for the selective licensing by local housing authorities of private-sector housing in particular areas. In
The High Court has overturned a major mistake made by directors that would have had serious consequences for their company and its shareholders. The problem arose because one of the directors had terminal cancer. The company was indebted to him for £600,000 and it was believed that upon his death, that amount would become immediately
The High Court has settled a dispute about how a minority shareholding in two companies should be valued in accordance with their articles of association. The two companies were owned by eight shareholders. The articles of both companies restricted the right of shareholders to sell their shares and granted pre-emption rights to other shareholders, giving
The issue of whether workers should be paid the National Minimum Wage when they’re on call or required to sleep on site has been addressed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). It said there was no definitive answer as each case would depend on its individual circumstances. However, it did highlight some of the factors