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Tenants are being warned to be wary of being ‘ripped off’ by rogue letting agents who are flouting new consumer protection regulations. Two new laws, the Tenant Fees Act and the Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents, have recently come into force to provide significant new protections for tenants. Under the Tenant Fees Act,
A husband has failed to overturn what he considered an unreasonably generous divorce settlement imposed after a judge held that he had misled the court. The case involved a couple who married in 1995 and separated in 2016. They had three dependent children. The wife had looked after the home and worked part time. She
Local law firm, Machins Solicitors LLP has achieved eight practice area recommendations in the latest edition of Legal 500 UK including one top-tier firm recommendation in the area of family law; a first for the firm. Among the areas of expertise in which the firm is regarded includes corporate and commercial, employment and family as
The government has warned employers that disabled people should not be considered a burden or prevented from enjoying fulfilling careers. The latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show that a record number of people have been supported by the Access to Work scheme, with 36,240 having received the grant in the last
A landlord has won a dispute with a tenant over service charges for insurance dating back nearly 15 years. The case involved a tenant who held the lease of a flat in a building comprising of three flats and a commercial unit. Under the lease, the tenant covenanted to contribute one-sixth of the building’s specified
A court has ordered that a director should be removed from his position after several sums of investors’ money were dispersed into various companies. The director ran a business that sought investment for developments of hotels and care homes. Investors received a long lease on one of the rooms in the developments, and a high
Electronics company Casio has been fined £3.7 million for illegally preventing price discounts on its pianos. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a Statement of Objections against Casio Electronics in April 2019. Casio had been telling retailers to sell its digital pianos at or above a certain price. It used software to monitor their
The computer software company McAfee has been granted an interim injunction requiring a retailer to continue to promote its product. A contract between McAfee and DSG Retail stated that the retailer would promote only the computer company’s security software in its stores unless it was incompatible with a device, in which case an alternative option
A developer has been refused permission to convert a family home into a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). The property was in a street which contained mainly single-family homes. The developer wanted to the convert it into six self-contained apartments. The planning inspector considered the effect an HMO would have on the living conditions of
Homeowners buying a property under Help to Buy are now allowed to take out 35-year mortgages. The government has moved to close what it describes as a loophole, which has seen purchasers using the scheme facing difficulties and uncertainty if they wanted to take out a mortgage with a term of more than 25 years.