On 20th March, we held the 'Coronavirus Insights and practical solutions for landlords' webinar.  In this webinar, our speakers discussed how the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent political and economic impact is having a signific...

Commercial Court – a return to action? On 4 May 2020, the Commercial Court Judge in Northern Ireland, the Honourable Mr Justice Horner, circulated an update to legal professionals stating clearly that the Commercial ‘Hub’ is open f...

As Bruce Dear writes, “COVID-19 poses a threat of unparalleled potency to our real estate markets and economy. So our industry and government must unite behind a grand, generous and visionary response to match the scale of this once in a cent...

COVID-19 is creating a fast-changing and uncertain landscape. Many prospective tenants will be undertaking fit out works under their agreements for lease. Our webinar held on 31st March highlighted some important practical steps that could be taken ...

  For landlords involved in construction works, COVID-19 is creating a fast-changing and uncertain landscape. Whilst many things are beyond a landlord's control, there are some important practical steps that can be taken to maximise control ov...

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In this session we answered some of the most common questions clients have asked us over recent weeks as well as digging into more detail around how your business should proceed with specific legal and technical challenges according to French, Germa...

As employers, trade unions, public health authorities and the government work together to safeguard communities, ease the lockdown and reopen workplaces, it is clear that leadership, trust and careful planning will play a vital role in this critical...

Freehold Properties 250 Ltd v Field [2020] EWHC 792 (Ch) The tenants of terraced and semi-detached houses on an estate, demised under a long lease that excluded certain structural parts had no right to acquire the freehold title as they were not "a ...

INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 Regulations issued by the government have required persons to work from home, where they can. As we have engaged with our clients on a daily basis, one of the key questions is whether a person’s home becomes a “...

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published details of the information sheets required by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA) as amended by the Consumer Credit Act 2006 for sending to borrowers in arrears and with default notices. The information ...

This case was a reference to the European Court of Human Rights under Protocol 1, Article 1 of the European Convention of Human Rights – peaceful enjoyment of possessions. The claimants had owned land that was leased to a group of fa...

The test case brought by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) against a selection of banks and a building society has begun in the High Court in London. The case concerns the legality and reasonableness of charging unauthorised overdrafts and other bank...

It is estimated that there are currently hundreds of millions of pounds sitting unclaimed in UK bank and building society accounts. This forgotten money is a drain on the resources of financial institutions, when it could potentially be put to good ...

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Toronto Dominion Bank £490,000 for systems and controls failings in relation to one of its trading books. The fine arose from a failure to supervise a trader within the firm who had been recordi...

Cherry Tree Finance sought to appeal against the decision that an early redemption penalty imposed by it was unfair. Mr and Mrs Evans carried out an antique restoration business from a property they owned. The property comprised part business and p...

From 6 April 2008, all new consumer credit agreements and consumer hire agreements will be regulated regardless of the amount of credit (unless they are exempt). The main exemption is for first charge mortgages regulated by the FSA. ...

The cornerstone of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) policy in the mortgage industry is the Mortgage Effectiveness Review (the Review). The first stage of the Review was published in 2006 and concentrated on disclosure, advice and selling pract...

In the current climate, whilst many are soul searching about how the financial sector was allowed to get into trouble, Islamic mortgage providers are quietly getting on with their business. The turmoil has had an impact for them but not as devastati...

Partly in an effort to counter the tide of mortgage fraud cases, the Land Registry has amended the Land Registration Rules 2003 with effect from 10 November 2008. The Land Registration (Amendment) Rules 2008 substantially amend many of the forms req...

The start of a new year is generally a good opportunity to cast our eyes back over the preceding year to examine the impact of the key Court of Appeal and House of Lords decisions. So what did the courts decide in 2008 that is likely to be of use o...

There are some important changes to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) coming into effect in April this year. The CPR is a set of rules that govern all civil court cases in England and Wales. General pre–action conduct The use of pre-action pro...

In recent years few, if any, lenders will have escaped the experience of borrowers challenging the enforceability of arrears administrations’ fees and regulators requesting that the level of such fees be justified, for example: credit card l...

Hot on the heels of our guide to credit hire essentials we find that the enforceability of the credit hire agreements themselves is back on the agenda. In the case of Wei v Cambridge Power and Light Company (2010) the court decided in an appeal hear...

The Court of Appeal has taken 11 months to add to the confusion caused by the attempt by a small number of employer’s liability insurers, all in run-off, to argue that policy wordings long understood to provide coverage on the basis that the i...

Reports early this week indicated that the new Home Secretary intends to “end free movement” to the UK of EEA citizens immediately in the event of no-deal Brexit. This has caused widespread alarm and was clarified by a Home Office Fact S...

Sponsors of Tier 2 migrants will be aware that they are obliged to retain certain documents for every sponsored migrant for a set period of time as part of their sponsorship duties. The specific documents that sponsors are required to retain and the...

  When delivering the UK’s Budget on 16 March 2016, the Chancellor of the Exchequer warned that we face a “cocktail of risks”. Undoubtedly, this is not likely to be anyone’s first choice from the cocktail menu, however d...

Feeling the squeeze Background Technical consultation issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government in December 2015 proposed a change to the definition of Affordable Housing under the National Planning Policy Framework “to enc...

In recent years the importance of paying ‘due regard’ to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)1 when it comes to decisions to reduce or withdraw local authority services in response to the austerity agenda has been underlined by a serie...

Eversheds has advised Miller Homes on its successful planning appeal for residential development of land at Boston Spa Leeds, granted following a Public Inquiry by the Secretary of State, on 8 June 2016. It is the most important housing appeal decis...

The outcome of the vote in favour of leaving the EU will undoubtedly have far reaching implications, but what does this mean for the UK planning system? We have not rushed to comment upon the planning and environmental implications of the vote to le...

Whilst the “Northern Po...

Manchester is the City Region that has most enthusiastically embraced the devolution agenda – unsurprisingly, perhaps, given its long standing commitment to the cause of devolved powers and city region autonomy. In addition to embracing the Me...

When it comes to the devolution of fiscal and functional responsibilities to city regions, Greater Manchester continues to be well ahead of the curve. Additional functions for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) that have already been t...

The Government chose the last month of 2016 to announce some legislative proposals that will have a significant impact on the ability of local planning authorities (LPAs) to impose planning conditions. Consultation seeking views on proposals for imp...

Eversheds Sutherland (International) has been named ‘Legal Practice of the Year’ at the Northern Lights Awards, Manchester. The awards are designed to highlight collaboration between companies and within companies in the Northern Powerh...

Eversheds Sutherland (International) has become the first law firm to join the government’s Northern Powerhouse partnership programme. Established by Prime Minister Theresa May and led by Northern Powerhouse Minister, Andrew Percy, more than 9...

Whilst polarisation has become a familiar feature of national politics in recent months, on some key issues there is still a degree of political consensus. One of these is the need to rebalance the UK economy away from an overreliance on London and ...

After much anticipation, The Neighbourhood Planning Bill received royal assent on 27th April 2017. The new Neighbourhood Planning Act (“Act”) covers matters not obviously related to its title, including new powers of temporary possession...

The final version of the Scottish Government’s Onshore Wind Policy Statement (“OWPS”) has been published, confirming the role of onshore wind in Scotland, expectations of developers and forthcoming reviews and consultations. The OW...

The release of the Planning (Scotland) Bill heralds the next key stage of Scottish planning reform. The Bill is intended to transform the planning system: to strengthen and simplify planning processes and positively enable development rather than re...

The risk of inadvertently sterilising the development potential of land As the phrase ‘town or village green’ tends to conjure mental images of a rural idyll with village fetes and cricket matches played on broad expanses of green land i...