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In July 2017 the Department for Communities and Local Government issued a consultation paper seeking views from the real estate industry on various proposals to deal with public concerns regarding the sale of leasehold houses. Yesterday it responded, announcing that it will legislate to ban the grant of new residential long leases on houses.
The Government and the Mayor of London have been at their most creative in finding space for new housing, both within and outside London. Some of the emerging policies and strategies certainly offer effective potential for increasing housing, but are not without their problems.
Under section 3 of the Prescription Act 1832, tenants as well as freeholders can acquire rights to light. A recent case, Metropolitan Housing Trust Ltd v RMC FH Co Ltd [2017] EWHC 2609, illuminates what happens when a landlord and tenant disagree over whether the tenant can release the right to a developer without the landlord's consent.
Can landlords recover any loss at lease expiry on change of use from offices to flats? What is the dilapidations position in the context of residential conversions?
The decision in Franses v the Cavendish Hotel [2017] EWHC 1670 has attracted a lot of concern as to whether a landlord's motive is relevant to its ability to utilise section 30(1)(f) ("Ground (f)") of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (the "LTA 1954"). Tenants and their representatives are concerned that Ground (f) is being used openly to defeat the purpose of the LTA: 1954 to protect tenants' business tenancies.
The provision of heating from combined heat and power ("CHP") plants through a network of underground and internal heating pipelines has become a fairly common aspect of the utilities infrastructure in modern residential and mixed-use development schemes. They are also an increasingly popular investment asset class in their own right, attracting a diverse range of investors into the infrastructure sector.
Landlords are responsible for the buildings they own. But increasingly this responsibility is being extended to encompass the behaviour of their tenants.
Battery storage is the way ahead for renewable energy. However, there are various practical, legal and technological hurdles to overcome before this solution can be fully implemented.
Travers Smith LLP has advised long-standing client Safestore Holdings plc on its £56 million acquisition of Stork Self Storage (Holdings) Limited (trading as Alligator Self Storage) from a company controlled by funds managed or advised by York Capital Management.
In Millgate Developments Limited (and another) v Bartholomew Smith and the Alexander Devine Children's Cancer Trust [2016] UKUT5150 (LC) the Upper Chamber prioritised public interest in housing development over a private landowner's rights. This approach is likely to become common.
A recent case throws light on a question that property owners and occupiers sometimes need to consider: if I acquire a plot of land next to land I already own, am I entitled to use the right of way over which I get to my existing land in order to get to the new plot?
SANGS can be taken into account by local authorities considering development proposals, but they must be real and deliverable, not hypothetical.
Travers Smith LLP has advised private equity firm Bridgepoint on its acquisition of Miller Homes from funds managed by GSO Capital Partners, in a transaction totalling £655 million.
According to a tweet from the National Grid, Friday 21 April 2017 was a landmark day because, for the first time in more than 130 years, Britain functioned as normal without turning on its coal-fired power stations. The country's daily electricity came from a combination of gas power plants (47%), nuclear plants (18%), wind farms (18%), solar panels (10%) and biomass (6%). Renewable power is an increasingly important part of our energy infrastructure.
The Licensing Act 2003, which came into force in 2005, has recently been subject to scrutiny by the House of Lords. Its report, issued in April 2017, highlights some serious issues with the current system, and proposes some solutions which could bring the licensing regime closer to the planning regime.
Studies are increasingly showing that, by using sophisticated equipment and techniques to control noise levels and lighting options in modern offices, employers are improving their employees' health and wellbeing and productivity.
The Government plans to create a register of beneficial ownership information for overseas entities that own or buy UK property or participate in UK central government procurement. The register is intended to help prevent UK property being used in money-laundering schemes and other criminal activities.
Travers Smith LLP is delighted to announce that real estate lawyer Emma Pereira, who will be promoted to the partnership with effect from 1 July 2017, has joined a new Education and Training Committee launched by the Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF).