Professional Comment and Legal Views – Page 5
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ProfessionalRecognising risks of forfeiture
Local authorities have long played a key role in delivering regeneration projects across the UK. This activity has gone through stages. At points over the last 10 years, one in five shopping centres changing hands were acquired by local authorities (LAs), often enabling new commercial development.
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ProfessionalQ&A: Five minutes with Sue Winterbourne, corporate success director at property services firm Leaders Romans Group (LRG)
Sue Winterbourne, corporate success director at property services firm Leaders Romans Group (LRG), on how she got started in property, her best and worst purchases and her number-one travel destination.
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ProfessionalPrepare for negligence claims
The Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections etc) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 were passed on 20 July – almost identically named to regulations passed in February 2023 but with an added ‘etc’.
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ProfessionalQ&A: Five minutes with Alan Ryall, joint managing director at advisory firm Watling Real Estate
Alan Ryall, joint managing director at advisory firm Watling Real Estate, on how he got started in property, his top book and podcast picks, how he’d spend one million pounds and his number-one travel destination.
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Professional‘Greening’ of offices and cities is important for sustainability
Green walls, urban forests and biophilic features can be vital in enhancing workplace health and wellbeing.
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ProfessionalAppeal court clarifies mast rights
The Court of Appeal has overturned the decision of the Upper Tribunal in the case of Vodafone v Gencomp (No. 7) and AP Wireless II (UK).
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ProfessionalPrepare for economic crime laws
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, which is making its way through Parliament, is the latest in a range of measures by the government to clamp down on economic crime.
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ProfessionalWhat can we learn from recent court judgments on demolition?
The law on demolishing a building is not as straightforward as it might seem. After a flurry of court cases on demolition, it is a good time to look at what we can learn from recent judgments and recap how to flatten a site without being bulldozed by the law. ...
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ProfessionalQ&A: Five minutes with Natasha Guerra, chief executive of co-working and flexible workspace manager Runway East
Natasha Guerra, chief executive of co-working and flexible workspace manager Runway East, on how she got started in property, her favourite book and album picks, and the superpower she wishes she had.
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ProfessionalTwo-staircase rule rocks industry
In a pivotal moment for the construction and development industry, mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced in February a regulation that is set to redefine the capital’s skyline: all new residential buildings over 30m must now include a second staircase.
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ProfessionalPlanning certainty trumps beauty
The importance of beauty in planning came to the fore in April, when housing secretary Michael Gove called in and subsequently refused planning permission for a 165-home development by Berkeley Homes in Cranbrook, Kent.
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ProfessionalHow can sustainability concerns affect lease renewal provisions?
‘Sustainability’ is the buzzword of 2023. A recent case, however, demonstrated the tension that can exist when regulations impose duties on the landlord who, to ensure compliance, tried to impose corresponding duties on a tenant on renewal under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, but where the tenant opposed.
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NewsWhat can lenders do if a major contractor becomes insolvent?
The insolvency of a significant building contractor such as Henry Construction has obvious widespread effects on many parties, including employees, customers, contractors and developers.
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ProfessionalQ&A: Five minutes with Ed Hutchinson, managing director of developer HBD
Ed Hutchinson, managing director of developer HBD, on how he got started in the property industry, his top book and music picks, the superpower he wishes he had and his number-one travel destination.
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ProfessionalHow Pizza Express got burned by business interruption insurance
UK restaurant chain Pizza Express was seeking to claim approximately £260m in losses relating to the closure of its stores during the Covid-19 pandemic under its business interruption insurance (BII) policy.
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ProfessionalWhere do compromises between conservation and retrofit lie?
While I have deep respect and love for heritage buildings that have stood for hundreds of years, we now live in a world in which the climate emergency defines our every move. Existing buildings we choose to keep need to be made more energy efficient, and in many cases the ...
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ProfessionalWhat steps should be taken to meet wider MEES Regulations?
Introduced five years ago, the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations, which restrict the grant or continuance of tenancies for properties in England or Wales with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of less than band ‘E’, have now extended their application to commercial properties.
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ProfessionalQ&A: Five minutes with Lauren Allcoat, associate in Fisher German’s commercial agency team
Lauren Allcoat, associate in Fisher German’s commercial agency team, on how she got started in property, her top TV and album choices, the superpower she wishes she had and her number-one travel destination.
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ProfessionalTax implications of solar leasing
For building owners hoping to boost their environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials and make the most of their unused space, leasing rooftop space to solar energy companies can be an appealing option.
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ProfessionalDelays may complicate evictions
The residential rental market is rippling with recent announcements and changes. Government proposals to upgrade Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) requirements to ‘C’ or higher and to abolish Section 21 no-fault evictions, coupled with the removal of tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages, have seen a number of landlords selling up.
