The Government has announced further changes to the planning system to make it simpler and quicker to use. The measures include making it easier to re-use some existing buildings without the need for planning permission. This would include the ‘meanwhile’ use of vacant commercial premises for purposes such as helping start-up businesses. There are also
Landlords need to ensure they include their name and address when sending demands for rent to tenants. Failure to do so could result in tenants refusing to pay, as happened in a recent case that ended in legal proceedings. It involved a landlord who asked his agent to serve demands for payment of outstanding service
Businesses need to take great care when taking over a lease on commercial property from another firm. They may find that they don’t automatically inherit all the entitlements that were granted to the original leaseholder. The issue arose recently in a case involving a company called Gemini Press Ltd. It took over a lease which
Landlords risk losing hundreds of thousands of pounds if they fail to consult tenants properly over service charges. In a recent case, Daejan Investments Ltd had to forfeit £270,000. Now Stenau Properties Ltd have fallen into the same trap. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires that landlords go through a thorough consultation process before
Break clauses are a good way for businesses to hedge their bets when moving into new premises. Taking on a long or medium term lease offers them stability if their business thrives, while the break clause gives them the option to pull out after a certain period if things don’t go as well as expected.
The Government says it’s ahead of schedule in identifying publicly owned land that can be used to build new homes. Housing Minister Grant Shapps recently announced that he wants local authorities and Government departments to release enough land for 100,000 homes by 2015. He said the Government had already found enough land for 80,000 homes
Court orders to evict tenants rose by 11% in 2011 as landlords took a firmer stance against late payers. Figures released by the specialist receivers, Templeton LPA, also show that the number of tenants in “severe arrears” of more than two months rose by 18% last year to 78,970. That’s the highest level since the
A court has ruled that a commercial tenant’s break clause notice was invalid because it had not paid the interest that had accrued as a result of late payments. The fact that the landlord had not sent a demand for payment made no difference. The case involved a tenant that had taken out a ten-year
Three councils have lost their appeal for a judicial review of the Coalition Government’s decision to scrap the need for planning permission when converting single dwellings into houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). The need for planning permission was introduced in April 2010 by the last Labour Government after it had conducted a consultation with interested
A development firm must pay more than it bargained for to a local authority after selling on land at below market price to a group company. The developers bought the land from the authority with a view to creating a business park. The authority retained a share in the open market value of the land,