Real Estate Dispute Resolution

The Government has announced that it will shortly begin a consultation on important new measures designed to boost confidence in the ‘pre-pack’ administration procedure. You can have your say in this process. View full briefing

An introduction to the service of notices in the context of unopposed lease renewals under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 View full briefing

A substantial proportion of our readership responded to our recent survey. Our aim was to gauge our readers’ satisfaction with QD. Here are the results. View full briefing

In a ground breaking case, the High Court held that a guarantee given by the original tenant’s guarantor in respect of its assignee’s obligations was void and unenforceable. View full briefing

The court has clarified that administrators must pay rent as an expense of the administration when they use property. View full briefing

"Rent review: the landlord could review the rent after a 13 year delay - A landlord successfully implemented a rent review 13 years after the review date, because time was not of the essence" "Professional negligence: solicitors’ advice should not be too bullish - The court gives guidance about the standard of care expected from a solicitor and the remedies available to clients for negligent advice" "Developers must check carefully for restrictive covenants - We explore the potentially disastrous impact of restrictive covenants on developments and how developers can avoid litigation" "Break clauses: a tenant cannot exercise a personal break right after assigning its lease - The court makes it clear that a former tenant will only be able to operate a personal break clause in exceptional circumstances" "Fraudulent misrepresentation: the court upholds non-reliance clauses in an agreement for lease - We look at liability for misrepresentation in a case where the project was a “commercial disaster”  View full briefing

"Valuing dilapidations claims: the court will not invent a hypothetical purchaser - what can the court taken into account"; "Failure to deliver a property in compliance with a special condition can frustrate a sale - what happens if a seller cannot comply with a special condition?"; "Damages for loss of business premises: how much can a tenant recover? - can a tenant recover compensation for a potential business opportunity?"; "Original guarantors: the demise of the repeat guarantee? - we look at the Good Harvest case and review its implications"; "Administration expenses: landlords can recover the costs of a winding-up petition - we explore the costs that landlords can recover in insolvency proceedings" View full briefing

A solicitors’ letter, simply requesting the landowner’s solicitors’ bank details, was held to be a valid notice extending an option period by a further fi ve years; even though the developer’s solicitors never intended the letter to be a notice extending the option period; even though formal board authority for the extension was yet to be given by the developer; and even though payment of the additional £20,000 due to the landowner was not made before the expiry of the initial option period. The High Court’s recent decision in Rennie -v- Westbury Homes (Holdings) Ltd [2007] EWHC 164 (February 2007) applies the well known House of Lord case of Mannai Investment Co Limited -v- Eagle Star Life Assurance Co Ltd [1997] AC 749 with perhaps a surprising result. View full briefing