In a decision of great importance to landlords of student accommodation , a tribunal has found that bedsits with communal facilities are not separate dwellings. The ruling meant that the tribunal had no power to consider an attempt by a group of students to...
The popular press has made a great deal of a recent Court of Appeal case , reporting that there had been a significant departure from the general principle that the assets built up by a couple during their marriage are to be split more or less equally on...
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a comprehensive data protection regime which will start to be enforced in the UK in May 2018. The penalties for non-compliance can be very substantial – for serious breaches, up to 4 per cent of global...
The old adage that 'an Englishman's home is his castle' is only partially true and the impact of planning law on a property owner's rights can be far-reaching – even extending to limiting the right of occupation. This is particularly an issue in areas...
Amidst an ageing population, the role of judges in protecting the weak, vulnerable and infirm is of ever increasing importance. In one case that proves the point, the High Court stepped in to set aside land transfers made by an elderly farmer with dementia...
Large construction or maintenance projects rarely proceed without at least a few surprises and the contracts for such projects are generally drafted with such eventualities in mind. One often-used technique is to use minimum performance level agreements,...
Among football fans it is very well known that the owners and supporters of Blackpool FC are not on good terms. It is also common knowledge that comments on fan websites can be very immoderate at times. However, a recent case shows that no matter how deep...
Although no one likes to think about their own death, failing to be prepared for all eventualities can cause chaos in family companies, which are often dependent for their success on the skills of a small number of people. The point could hardly have been...
No matter how much you may be tempted, taking the law into your own hands is not a good idea. When a mother who was divorcing her husband in Hawaii obtained the agreement of the US court to take the couple's children, aged 9 and 11, back to the UK for a...
Unoccupied and decaying properties can have a serious impact on the neighbourhood and can become a focus for vandalism and anti-social behaviour. However, as one case showed , local authorities have a range of powers to deal with such eyesores, even if...
One reason why it is rarely advisable to represent yourself in litigation is that you need a good lawyer to tell you when you are wrong. That point could hardly have been more clearly made than by a case in which a widower claimed that his sister had made...
The Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) was introduced in order to give people far more control over how their pension pots are invested and have proven to be very popular with pension savers. One common use of the SIPP in a business context is to sell...
When a local council published information in connection with a family's planning application for building works, it failed to think through the consequences of its actions. The result was that it placed sensitive personal data in the public domain. The...
When a person has an accident involving a car and a claim results, it is usually dealt with by the insurer of the driver concerned. If the driver is not insured or is untraced, a procedure exists to ensure a claim can still go ahead, only in this case the...
Resorting to skulduggery in divorce proceedings is sadly common but almost never does either side any good. That was certainly so in one case in which a man surreptitiously took documents from his ex-wife's home and sought – unsuccessfully – to...
Correct service of legal documents may seem like a technicality to non-lawyers, but it is of crucial importance and should only be entrusted to professionals. In one case that resoundingly proves the point , a landlord who served a notice to quit on the...
Problems with covenants affecting land are common and sometimes a dispute can resurface years after it seems to have been settled. In a recent instance, a landowner was successful in reopening the battle over a covenant after persuading the court it was...
Any professional will know that there are many people who like to have free advice, and whilst this is seldom proffered in a social setting such as the pub, it is normal for friends to give one another advice. It was therefore unremarkable when a couple who...
When a person takes professional advice and a loss follows, it is normal to look for compensation through the professional's indemnity insurance policy. In order for the professional to be liable, they have to have owed the claimant a duty of care and their...
Unfulfilled hopes of substantial inheritance are commonplace, both in fact and fiction, but not often do they lead to such ham-fisted attempts at forgery as that shown by a disappointed widow after her husband left her just £25,000 of his...
The position of those in debt is normally far from hopeless and much can be done to save them from penury. However, they are particularly vulnerable and, as a decision of the Upper Tribunal (UT) showed , the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) tries its...
When a couple split up, it is very common for one of them to wish to move away, often to the area where they grew up or have family. This can create significant issues as far as the children are concerned and disputes in such cases are common. In a recent...
Basement extensions are increasingly popular, particularly in areas where property prices are high, but are not always looked upon favourably by neighbours. In one case, an objector obtained legal advice and succeeded in blocking plans for a three-storey...
Average British person commits 32 crimes a year Although 98% of British people consider themselves law-abiding citizens, on average we each commit 32 crimes a year. This is according to new research carried out by BT TV. This “crime wave”...
Commercial moneylending is, with good reason, heavily regulated to ensure that unfair advantage is not taken of vulnerable borrowers. In one case that made that clear, two men who provided over £750,000 in finance to taxi drivers without any legal...
