Articles by ‘Caroline Preist’

Break clauses remain a minefield for the unwary with courts taking a rigid approach to interpretation. While still focusing on the pitfalls, I’d like to highlight the areas in which professional advisers can also be caught out by the traps.

As one of its final tasks ahead of the general election, Parliament ensured the Deregulation Act 2015 received Royal assent on 26 March 2015. There are many new measures that will affect landlords of assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs), but here are a couple outlined in brief.

Documents released following George Osborne’s recent budget speech suggest that the Government is to bring in legislation to allow residential tenants to sub-let property for short periods of time.

The courts have recently considered how best to balance the often conflicting needs of a landlord to look after its building and the tenant’s rights to ‘quiet enjoyment’. The right extends far wider than the ordinary meaning of the words ‘quiet enjoyment’ and would be more accurately described as the right to ‘uninterrupted use’ of the property.

This blogs looks at a case study where the type of survey a buyer had carried out on her home had serious consequences when considering a claim for negligence against her surveyors.

In a report out today the Competition and Markets Authority have noted that many of the five million leasehold flat owners in the UK suffer from poor service and excess charges from the property managers who look after their properties. The Authority have recommended changes to the law to help flat owners in changing or getting rid of poor managers by a simple majority vote.

For the first time in a number of years the Court of Appeal has considered some of the less used grounds for opposing the grant of a new protected tenancy under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954. If you’re a landlord who wants to successfully reject your tenant’s application for lease renewal this article points out what must be proven and what evidence you may need.

The case that I am reporting on today does not provide good news for potential Claimants. In the case of Xenakis & Corke v Birkett Long LLP, the Claimants (Mr Xenakis and Mr Corke) opened a restaurant together and formed a company called Blue & Ginger for the purpose. They also had another restaurant which they operated through Mr Xenakis’ family company which was called Pink & Lily.

According to the results of the latest “Which?” survey revealed today, 27% of UK adults have suffered some form of nuisance caused by their neighbours in the last year. The most common problem is noise caused by loud voices, music, pets or building work.

If the flat owners think they can do a better job of managing the building, they have a few options open to them.

Can you sue your surveyor if the company they worked for has become insolvent?

Insurance, home care and holiday provider Saga has reported that out of landlords aged 50 and over, 32% have had problems with tenants not paying their rent and 27% have had problems with tenants damaging the property. Our Property Disputes team offers top tips for avoiding problems like these.