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The EU wants lenders to provide homebuyers with more information about their mortgages, including “worst case scenarios” of what could happen if rates increase unexpectedly. It means lenders will have to show the maximum interest rate they have charged in the last 20 years. A statement from the European Parliament says: “”Anyone signing up for
The government is seeking international collaboration to tackle the growing challenge of dementia as people lead increasingly longer lives. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says there are currently 670,000 people suffering from various forms of dementia in theUKand this figure is set to double over the next 30 years. Mr Hunt said: “Dementia is far from
Six out of ten MPs believe the law needs to be changed to give unmarried couples more legal protection if they separate. A survey carried out by the family law group, Resolution, found that 69% of MPs agree that the public have a mistaken belief in the “myth of common law marriage”. This misconception leads
A homeowner has been awarded compensation for damage caused to his property by the roots of a hedge belonging to his neighbour. The issue first arose in 2006 when the homeowner noticed cracks in his property. Structural engineers investigated and reported that the damage was most likely caused by the roots from a cypress tree
As the economy appears to be taking a turn for the better and vacant units in town centres falling from 1 in 7 to 1 in 5 (Local Data Company Limited), landlords and tenants are still precarious about entering into leases of premises. There is a fine balance seeking to protect an interest and ensuring
Helping Machins’ clients in contentious probate issues it is often the case that a dispute arose as a result of a will which favoured one sibling over another or completely cut one family member out. This is a somewhat delicate and emotional issue and with English law following the basic principle that the Testator has
An employment tribunal has held that overtime payments should count when calculating holiday pay as long as the extra hours are “intrinsically linked” to the employee’s overall work and duties. The judgment brings the UK closer to EU law in relation to the Working Time Regulations. The employee at the centre of the case, Mr
The Government says it is urgently exploring whether new legislation is needed following a controversialAppeal Courtruling which affects tenancy deposit protection (TDP). The case of Superstrike Ltd v Marino Rodrigues involved a tenant who had taken an assured tenancy for a fixed term of one year less one day from January 8, 2007 and paid
A businessman has won the right to buy his brother’s share of a jointly owned company after a breakdown in their relationship. The case involved two brothers who had a holding company involving several businesses. The most valuable asset was a hotel valued at £4.65m. The other assets were valued at a total of £1.4m
A group of tenants have lost their appeal relating to a lease agreement which obliges them to pay service charges that increase at a compound rate of 10% a year. The case involved tenants with long leases of holiday chalets at a leisure park. Their leases, dating back several years, contained a clause saying they