Residential landlords who fail to meet their extensive legal obligations put themselves at risk of severe financial consequences and reliance on the advice of professional letting agents is no defence. In a case on point, an otherwise responsible private landlord who let a house in
Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) are a potentially powerful tool that can be used by the National Crime Agency (NCA) to track down criminally tainted money and assets. Although only one such order has been issued to date, they may well become more common following a
Official decision-making is only as good as the advice on which it is based. The High Court succinctly made that point in ruling that a local authority was seriously misled into granting itself planning permission for a residential development. The case concerned a countryside meadow
A property’s location within a conservation area is often presented as a selling point by estate agents, but the designation brings with it heavy legal responsibilities. A flat owner found that out to his cost after installing a PVC bay window without planning permission. The
Restrictions on the use to which land can be put do not always stand the test of time and that is why the law permits their discharge or modification. In a case on point, the Upper Tribunal (UT) opened the way for construction of new homes
The mere fact that a development proposal may encounter difficulties and eventually prove undeliverable does not generally justify a refusal of planning permission. The High Court made that point in breathing new life into plans to construct a whole new neighbourhood of 1,200 homes. In
Do approved building control inspectors, whose task it is to ensure that construction works comply with building regulations, owe a duty of care to a purchaser of a defective property? In an important test case for property professionals, the Court of Appeal has answered that
High demand for new homes and a scarcity of land to meet it are factors that weigh powerfully in favour of planning permission being granted to residential developers. However, as a High Court case showed, they by no means always trump the harm that housing
Local authority planning officers are highly qualified professionals – but they are not lawyers or judges and their reports must not be read with an over-critical legal eye. The Court of Appeal made that point in opening the way for construction of a new home
The relentless policy drive to build more new homes inevitably creates pressure to develop greenfield sites. In a case on point, the High Court opened the way for construction of 70 dwellings in the open countryside – even though there was no shortage of housing
