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The High Court has ruled that a landlord was entitled to terminate the tenancies on commercial properties so he could apply for planning permission to build houses. The case involved several tenants who provided aviation-related facilities from rented buildings at an airfield owned by Littler Investments Ltd. Littler served notices to terminate the tenancies as
The High Court has ordered a homeowner to pay the full cost of repair work carried out on his property by a building company. The court heard that the homeowner, Sylvein Pinto, had asked ICCT Ltd to stop leaks in his basement. The work was not paid for so ICCT took the matter to arbitration
The leader of the political group, the Christian People’s Alliance, has lost a court battle with his sister over their mother’s will. Sidney Cordle gained national prominence in 2014 while campaigning against same-sex marriage. He also stood for Parliament for Hitchin and Harpenden but failed to get elected. Mr Cordle’s mother Peggy died in 2016
Pre-nups are becoming increasingly popular and although they are not legally binding automatically, they are now usually upheld by the courts if they are fair to both sides. If they are not fair, it’s possible that they will be overturned, as happened recently in the High Court. The case involved Morgan McConnell, who is an
The Land Registry says its commitment to developing new digital services is making the process of buying a home simpler and quicker. One of its main innovations is a system allowing homeowners to re-mortgage their property by signing their mortgage deeds online. Lord Henley, the minister with responsibility for the Land Registry, said: “People are
A Royal Mail employee was unfairly dismissed after he stored ‘obscene material’ on his online work account. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which ruled that Royal Mail’s internal appeals policy shouldn’t have allowed such a severe penalty. The case involved operational support manager Mr P Chokski. He was dismissed for sharing
Judges will not allow parents to make numerous contact applications spanning several years if the process could be detrimental to their children, as illustrated in a recent case before the Court of Appeal. The case involved a couple who had separated when their children were aged five and two. The mother had made unproven allegations
The High Court has set aside a transaction in which an 85-year-old sold her house at a considerable undervalue to a man 45 years her junior. The judge held that she did not fully understand what she was doing when she agreed to the sale. Ann Sybil Gurney formed a close relationship with William Paul
The government has announced a temporary change to probate applications until a controversial new fee structure comes fully into effect. Probate is the process by which a person’s will is administered after their death. Currently there is a flat fee of £215, or £155 if a solicitor is involved. That is being replaced by a
The government has written to 10,000 businesses to warn them they must pay their suppliers on time or risk being barred from winning public contracts. Officials from the Cabinet Office have written to the businesses – which include all the government’s current strategic suppliers – to remind them of the new rules on prompt payment,