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More than 50 councils across England are to share nearly £2.4m of extra funding to crack down on rogue landlords. The government says that while most landlords provide decent homes for their tenants, the cash boost will enable local councils to step up action against the small minority who continue to flout the law and
A financial broker has succeeded in preventing a commercial lender from approaching its clients. The case involved Medenta Finance Ltd, which specialised in financial products in the medical and dental market. It had acted exclusively for Hitachi Capital UK Ltd. Under a 2011 agreement, Hitachi provided finance for the sale of products through suppliers introduced
A postman has lost his race discrimination claim against Royal Mail. In dismissing his case, the Court of Appeal outlined the twin test that must be passed to win such a claim. The court heard that the postman had graduate and post-graduate qualifications in forensic computing and had applied unsuccessfully for over 30 internal posts
New regulations contained in the EU Trade Mark Directive 2015 came into force on 14 January. The government says the changes are widely supported by users of the UK trade mark system and will be maintained regardless of the outcome of the negotiations surrounding our exit from the European Union. The changes are designed to
A new one-stop government service allowing start-up businesses to register their company and register for tax at the same time has been used by more than 200,000 new businesses. The Streamlined Company Registration Service, which has been set up in a collaboration between HMRC and Companies House, is designed to ease the burden on new
The government is planning a new system for buying and selling homes that it hopes will reduce the number of failed transactions. Currently, house buyers can have an offer accepted for the purchase of a home but then pull out at the last minute causing great inconvenience to the seller. The same problem can happen
Most people over 60 are not taking the necessary action to protect the assets they leave to their children in their wills, according to new research. The risk is that if their children divorce, some of the assets they’ve inherited from their parents could go to their ex-partner. Research published in the Times newspaper shows
Nearly half the people in England and Wales still believe in ‘common law’ marriage, with many cohabiting couples unaware of the risks they run if their relationship breaks down. A survey carried out by the National Centre for Social Research and Exeter University found that only four out of 10 people realised that cohabitation does
The High Court has outlined the issues to be considered when deciding whether a teenage father should be told that he has a child if the mother doesn’t want him to know. The case involved a mother who had become pregnant at 13 but was unaware of her pregnancy until her waters broke. Her family
The government is planning more protection for pregnant women and new parents to prevent them losing their jobs when they return to work after having children. It’s put forward proposals that the legal protection against redundancy for pregnant women and new mothers on maternity leave is extended so that it continues for up to six