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Ignoring tree preservation orders can prove to be a very expensive mistake and if your property has a protected tree on it, you should make sure any order is understood and followed and any necessary permissions obtained. Felling a protected tree without permission is a criminal offence. Recently, a man who took a chainsaw to eleven protected trees in order to increase the free space and light in his back garden (and thereby to increase the value of his property) found himself in court. Concluding that he had ignored the orders...

When a personal guarantee has to be given in order to give a lender the security it needs, the guarantor hopes that the guarantee will never be called in. However, when it is, the loss suffered by the guarantor will normally qualify as a loss for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) purposes to be set against gains chargeable to CGT. A recent case dealt with the question of when a loss under a guarantee arises for the purposes of obtaining relief against CGT. Is it when the guarantee becomes payable or...

The principle of open courts is highly valued in the UK legal system. However, it is often a worry to people engaged in legal proceedings concerning family or marital issues that by going to court their family's private affairs will become public knowledge. In practice, with the assistance of expert legal guidance, many disputes can be efficiently negotiated without the need for a court battle. However, when the outcome of the dispute is court proceedings, the result may not be as bad as you expect. Firstly, where children are involved, the...

A recent case should serve as a reminder that rules are rules and 'close enough' often isn't! The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 states that 'the enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwelling house' is a 'permitted development' (under class A), which subject to certain restrictions does not require planning permission. So, when a garden room was built on a residential property, that should have been that. However, a visit by the building inspector uncovered a fatal flaw…the garden room was not physically connected to...